Cliches
by Eric Blair
Summary: Cliché: Phrase, expression, or idea that has been overused to the point of losing it's intended force or novelty, especially when at some time it was considered distinctively forceful or novel. It is generally used in a negative context. Ch. 4 Up. Finito!
1. Cliche

She is crazy: she will readily accept this.

There was no way in hell, _NO WAY IN HELL_, this could be happening.

She was staring into his deep big blue eyes; she could only see those eyes; there was just nothing else to see; the fact she had, in true Asuka style, barged in, kicking open the door to the boy's lockers without even stopping to consider he might be taking a shower might be at fault.

She prayed to God almighty his hastily wrapped towel around his waist will not slip, she didn't want to see that (_well, all right, maybe she was a little curious_) and she most certainly didn't want to hit him; she wasn't worried about his well being, but the information brought forth by Hikari did made her reconsider her attitude towards him.

So, here she was, alone with him in the boy's locker room; mere inches away. She could faintly hear the water of the shower flowing, the slurping sounds the drain was making as it collected the water, flowing down the drain.

She could smell the crisp, clean smell of his soap. In true wimpy fashion, he had told Misato he was getting a rash after using the NERV approved soap which, she was pretty sure, was also used to clean the EVAs; The following morning he had a decent supply of liquid soap provided by section 6 and approved by Kaji, apparently, since it smelled similar to his (_Of this she could attest; after numerous glomping, she knew Kaji's smell; she had also seen Shinji's label briefly and it looked like the one Kaji had at Misato for whenever he "stayed over for coffee"_)

"A-Asuka…" Shinji shifted again, and _DAMN HIM_ he readjusted his towel which made Asuka turn down involuntarily, and somehow her eyes just refused to look up from his lean frame, glistening with the water and the soap and she could just see the beginning of the peach fuzz just under his bellybutton that she could just follow down to his cr-_BADEYESBADEYESBADEYESBA-_

His lips are moving, and she can hear sounds emanating from him, deep, rumbling sounds now that his voice has began changing and why couldn't she made them out? Was she going deaf? Had her brain ceased top function and erased all prior knowledge of Japanese? Was she going insane?

Apparently Shinji was thinking something along the same lines because he held his tower with his left hand, while he waved his right hand in front of her face, trying to gain some kind of response.

"Asuka…are you all right?"

"Shut up."

She must have said it louder or with more force than she had intended because he shuddered and took a step back.

At least she had more breathing room. _Ok, Asuka concentrate on the task at han_-_NO! BAD BRAIN BAD ANALOGY_ she shook her head to get rid of all the happy, echi, hentai scenes playing in there (_Damn you Misato!_)

"W-what are you doing in the showers?" He asked as a frown marred his brows, scrunching them together.

"W-well I-" _quick Asuka, think of something, anything! Oth-_

"Why are looking like that?" He asked again, only this time there was concern in his eyes.

"Th-the thing is-" _Damn you! Why do you have to be so good and gent-_

"And can you turn around so I can change?"

Asuka opened and closed her mouth, left with no answer, so she simply nodded, closed her eyes and turned regally, trying to muster as much class and courage and just any kind of reaction natural to her to try and save face.

Fate, however is a weird and fickle lady.

As she spun around her heels, making her hair fly like a blanket made out of coppery gold silk threads, she stepped n some water mixed with soap, which in turn made her heel slide forwards instead of stopping, making her fall on her back.

As she was waiting for the pain to explode on her back she suddenly became aware of some things.

Shinji was agile and strong, otherwise she could never explain how he had so quickly grabbed her, catching her by her back, his face hovering in front of her.

Shinji smell good, he smelled like the early morning rain, like damp soil, a fragrant musky smell that felt masculine _and _clean at the same time, that suited him well.

Shinji was cute; boyishly cute; maybe a bit if androgynous, but the years had began to trim away the bay fat, to define his body into that of a growing man, his hands and feet were not too big for his frame, he was rather nice proportioned.

Shinji was currently holding her so close and the look in his eyes felt so deep and warm she felt like she was in one of those stupid scenes of a romantic comedy that-

That was it!

The reason why she had come, the reason why she was here! She had to talk to Shinji, to get his help into quenching the rumors (_Which basically meant making him whine and bitch and say "It's not like that" at the same time with her_) about their relationship.

Again.

And as he inched closer to her, and she shifted her face a bit, mirroring the slight parting of his lips, the deep breaths each one took and was holding inside, the semi-closed eyes, all conscious thoughts save a couple were blown before their lips touched.

_There is just no way! This is not some dumb romantic comedy!_

Followed closely by:

_Damn you Hikari!_

----- -----

Hikari Horaki felt at home being the class Representative for room 2-A of the Tokyo-3 Municipal System Central School.

She was aware that this position clashed with her social life (or lack thereof) and was also aware that it meant she was normally alienated from all the extra-school activities, such as parties, and mainly parties.

But she didn't care, she was never one to party, she never felt comfortable with the popular type, and she really never thought important morning conversation should be centered around which shampoo you use, what make up is best fro your skin complexion, and who was dating/doing/fooling around with who.

She especially didn't like being in the spotlight on any of those questions.

That all changed when she met one Asuka Langley Sohryu.

"C'mon Hikari, why don't you just accept you like that big dumb stooge?"

Hikari was looking everywhere but at the smirking redhead, trying to weasel her way out, until the cold hard realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

There was no way out for her.

----- -----

It had somehow started like this: Hikari had woken up, as per usual, early in the morning, ready to start with her morning routine which consisted on making breakfast and fixing the boxed lunches for both her father, her sisters and herself.

Only this morning, she packed an extra bento, carefully wrapping it in a cloth.

She had all the intention of giving it to someone.

A boy.

Namely, Tōji Suzuhara.

Of course the story of her life would be different if she had actually went thru with her plan.

What actually happened was that Hikari had walked purposely towards the front gates, she had among other responsibilities getting everything in her classroom ready before classes could start. As she mindlessly went thru the motions of checking the chalk supply, cleaning the erasers and black board. Checking the connections on the school issued laptops and giving the classroom a quick once over.

All to take her mind of what she planned to do once he crossed that door.

She would channel her inner Asuka, and stand her ground, not running away. She would mold her face like Rei's, an impassible mask on her features; not breaking into a stupid, idiotic grin if he accepted it, nor into childish wails and sobs if he rejected her.

She would try to be suave and charming and sophisticated like Kodama, while evoking the playfulness of Nozomi (_And to a lesser extent of Tōji's little sister Mariko_).

In short, she would try and call for all she had learned of all the girls in her life to show Tōji how much he meant to her.

Instead, as the school's halls echoed with the sound of the last chime of the bell, and the rest of students sluggishly filled the classrooms, she saw the absence of him; Kensuke Aida; Tōji's best friend and usual suspect and partner in crime, had walked in alone, which in itself was an occurrence, while Ayanami had materialized _Literally; that girl was scary, she moves like a stalking cat, her breath is short and silent and sometimes it feels like she is carefully calculating the time and place to wipe humanity away. Or maybe she's just a punk-goth. But then why would she always be so composed and watching out the window if sh-_

Hikari stopped her thought from dwelling to far into the anachronistic enigma bundled inside a riddle wrapped in an albino exterior that was Rei Ayanami, feeling the pangs of a headache forming on her forehead.

"Hurry up idiot! Run faster! Use those scrawny legs of yours!"

Running next and crashing into the classroom were, of course Asuka, followed closely by the breathless form of Shinji Ikari. If she didn't know any better, she could have swore those two were always late because they were constantly stopping and necking in the alleys and behind every tree in the parks on their way from the apartment they shared with their guardian towards the school.

"That was awfully close Ikari." A leering tone from the back of the classroom, where a group of the rowdiest boys in class were still enjoying the last minutes of liberty before cases could start began to snicker. "Did you miss time while she was suckling onto your-"

"I-it's not like th-" Shinji automatically began to answer in a humorless tone before the shrill tone of voice from Asuka cut in.

"WHO THE HELL SAID THAT!?" the red head bellowed, showing her trembling fist and angry scolw for everyone to see. "I'LL SHOW YOU SUCKLING MOTH-"

"ASUKA!"

Asuka looked at Hikari, and noticed the look of reproach on her face. Wisely she chose to slump on her chair and not utter another word.

"And you." Hikari turned to the group in the back. "Go to your seats, classes are about to start."

The fact that everyone was sure that was the real reason behind their daily lateness might have something to do with what she thought.

But she knew the reality behind it all, and if she didn't, she had to hand it to Asuka and Shinji; they really knew how to keep such a secret from everyone, including herself.

As she idly continued to observe the daily ruckus that were that pair, Asuka grumbling about stupid _Baka_ never waking on time, while Shinji kept quiet, but she saw his lips forming silent grumbles (_Something about her taking to long in the bath, and Hikari had to remind herself, again they weren't living in sin after all_) She failed to notice Tōji hadn't showed up.

He had finally showed up, minutes later, handing the teacher a note, wordlessly making his way to his seat. Classes had gone smoothly and she waited for the bell that signaled the afternoon break. Hikari had to stay behind to pick up the printouts she had given the students the day before, and she could only watch in anguish as Tōji walked out, ignoring Kensuke, and Shinji.

"Hikari." Asuka called behind her. "Do we have any classes after break?"

"No." Hikari answered, her pigtails flailing as she shook her head. "Why?"

Asuka's smile made it obvious she was up to no good. "Then let's go have lunch out. Ditch school, play hooky." She said as she turned around, putting her books inside her leather carrier. "We can go to the mall, eat something then maybe watch a couple of movies."

"I-I guess…" she answered as she looked out the window, the wrapped boxed lunch clutched against her breast.

That's when she saw it.

Tōji was on top of the small hill that overlooked the school grounds, talking with Ayanami.

The only thing that brought her out of the shock was Asuka's yelling at her to go already, simultaneously grabbing her hand and leading her away.

----- -----

So now, here they were, sitting in a bench on one of the many cities overpass, staring out the setting sun, it's yellowish-orange hues coloring the sky, like a warm light bulb behind a white canvas reflecting the light. Hikari sighed gain, and Asuka rolled her eyes.

This had gone long enough.

"I'm sorry, Asuka." Hikari began as she sat, slumping against the bench, the sun coloring their skin and faces. "You always walk home with Ikari."

"Don't worry." Asuka said a she kept picking at the small box from the carryout place they had chosen to eat at. She clicked her chopsticks "I'm with Shinji as a duty, and I'm not in the mood to see his face now." She said with dejected forcefulness, trying to make Hikari believe it so hard, so painfully obvious, she failed in all accounts.

"Why don't you tell me what is wrong with you?" She suddenly asked Hikari, a sly smile on her face. "It's about Suzuhara, right?" She said as cheerfully as possible, but the distaste was obvious on her voice.

"C'mon Hikari, why don't you just accept you like that big dumb stooge?"

The shock on her face was quickly replaced by embarrassment. Hikari was never one who had grace under fire. Her drink slipped from her grasp, splashing against the ground and her skirt. Hikari began to wipe it with a spare napkin, muttering, or at least attempting to mutter an excuse while Asuka looked onto her.

"N-no…it's not like that." Hikari began, a bright red hue coloring her freckled cheeks.

"You're starting to sound like the _Baka_," Asuka said softly, as she slumped against the seat. The silence that followed was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable; it was one of thse silence when two persons pend time in introspection, not caring for the other one, or the passage of time; a single deep thought going around and around on their respective minds.

Finally, Hikari answered the question Asuka had left hanging minutes back.

"Yes. Can you tell?"

Asuka smiled a pathetic little smile, the kind one smiles to ones self, hoping no one would notice; the kind one wears when they inadvertently let something deep, something troublesome from themselves come to life.

The kind you share only with a good friend, a companion of sorrows, or someone stuck in the same boat as you.

"It's so easy to see it. Only those Three Stooges can't see it." She said as she leaned back, crossing her amrs at the base ofher neck for support, staring up into the dusking sky.

"W-well Ikari-kun is so…innocent..." She answered back, not really knowing what to say.

Asuka 's face scrunched into a frown, why was it the he was the only one that could elicit such responses from her? Love and hate all rolled together like one of those custard pies that English man from Nerv Germany seemed to love so much; like sweetness and spice and salt, and everything else rolled tgether; a bittersweet taste in her mouth and soul.

"He is the dumbest; such an idiot." She grumbled to herself. "He doesn't know how to get along with other people." She finished forcefully, before adding in a low whisper, almost as an after thought "Only with wondergirl."

"Really?" There was something…off in Hikari's voice, and Asuka couldn't help but turn towards her. Her eyes were stapled on the floor, her small hands baled into smaller fists, resting in her lap, atop her uniform skirt.

She looked like she was trying to be upset, but it was such an alien concept to her Hikari didn't know where to begin. Finally, she settled for simply stating, "Ayanami-san might be the girl Suzuhara likes."

Asuka's response was also conflictive, torn between a fledging happiness and shock and distaste. Ultimately she settled for anger, siding by her friend's side. "Suzuhara likes that honors student?" she asked in a hushed tone, disbelief clearly heard in her voice.

"They were getting along well at lunch time." And it was there that Hikari finally said _To hell with it_, turning to Asuka, despair in her face and eyes; the kind of despair only a 14 year old faced with the prospect that her crush could possibly, _surely_, not reciprocate her feelings could muster and feel.

Asuka never liked the stooge; he reminded her of herself if she had been a boy. If she had been a boy they might have been best friends or bitter rivals, but she wasn't. She was a girl, and he was a Stooge; a perverted, idiotic, brash and uncut stooge.

He was also the one who could always see thru her smokes and mirrors, who did have the potential of making the right call whenever it came to Shinji and Her, and that terrified her.

Asuka Langley Sohryu was deathly afraid of comforting the truth; the truth that she was not unique, that she was not the best.

The truth that she really didn't hate _him_ as much as she pretended to.

"That girl knows how to get along with people about a ten thousandth as well as Shinji." She said after considering her answers; while she never liked the stooge; she really didn't like the doll, mainly because it brought back painful memories of what she could have become; of what her mother had become.

"Really?" the hope in Hikari's voice was enough to make Asuka forget about jocks and clones, and concentrate on making her friend feel better.

"Really!" she said to her, nodding, a smile adorning both Asuka's bright blue eyes and Hikari's freckled face. "Can I ask you a question?" Asuka asked after a minute, a pensive look on her face.

"What?"

"What do you see in that idiot?" Asuka asked, but really, it somehow felt like she was asking the question to herself, and not to Hikari; like she feared the answer she could get, and therefore preferred to accept Hikari's answer as her own.

"He's…kind..." Hikari said, blushing slightly, she had never had the chance to speak so openly, sofreely about boys and crushes; not with Kodama, not with anyone; she had never been the popular type.

She had always been the Class Representative for room 2-A. That was all she had known to be, that was all she had ever been.

"What?" Asuka's shocked answer made it apparent that was something she never expected to hear.

----- -----

The walk back to Misato's apartment had been horribly long for both girls; on one hand Asuka kept hounding Hikari about her choice for a budding love life; on the other Hikari was constantly pleading to Asuka to just let it go.

They were destined to a head on collision the likes of which would forever rock the foundations of the world as they know it.

"C'mon Asuka." Hikari began, blushing but clearly not willing to back down, the last stretch of the road, with the apartment complex coming into view felt like the last stretch in a 100 meter dash; she knew every step was making her come closer and closer, but somehow time made it seem so slow, like trudging thru amber, feeling herself be trapped in the brownish, crystalline tree sap.

"Don't give me that. He's just so good looking I can't help myself…"

Asuka kept quiet, but the look on her face clearly said _You've gotta be kidding me._

That or _Are you blind?_ Take your pick.

"He dresses like someone who jumped a hobo; what's the deal with the tracksuit and pants everyday?"

"H-he wore the school uniform the day we went to see your training with Ikari."

Asuka glared at her, clearly not accepting that as a point awarded to Suzuhara's fashion sense.

"H-he's so kind too!" Hikari blurted out. Still blushing, still fretting. "He is always talking about his little sister!" She nodded to herself.

The image in her mind of a gallant Tōji, dressed in a white, sparkling tracksuit, kneeling like a prince next to a smaller girl who oddly had the same face as him, only with elongated eyelashes flashed in Asuka's mind.

She shuddered at that.

"Ok, Hikari if you feel that way about that idiot, then I guess it is my duty to help you with him." She announced with the standard flair of Asuka Langley Sohryu, just short of stepping on the bench, hands in her waist, a picture of insolence and challenge for the world to see.

"No way, Asuka…I could never do that."

"What do you mean you could never do that?" Asuka screeched. "You simply go up to the boy and tell him you like him, it's easy."

"B-but I'm a girl, girls aren't supposed to do that."

"Well if you wait for him to come around, you're gonna end up in a nursing home eating baby food." She flipped her red hair. "My way is easiest."

"Really?" The tone of harsh disbelief was seeping on Hikari's voice like acid thru steel. "And I suppose you know this by personal experience."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh please Asuka." Hikari said as the red head pressed the button on the elevator to go up to her floor. "If you are giving me advise it should be on how to lose a guy in 10 days."

"Romantic comedies aren't my style." Asuka stuck her tongue at Hikari. "I can give you secrets to seduce him and make him wait on hand and foot for you." She said brightly. "Works on _Baka_ everytime."

It was Hikari's turn to stare at the German Red head thru squinted eyes. Asuka looked at her, and smiled, accepting the unspoken challenge.

"Oooh Shinji." Asuka sing-songed in a bouncy tone, never taking her eyes from the giggling hikari. "Can I please have a glass of juice." She pouted like a five year old.

Nothing happened.

"Shinji?"

Again, silence was the only answer.

"HEY IDIOT I'M TALKIN TO YOU!!" Asuka screamed as she marched to his room. "GET YOUR SCRAWNY ASS OUT OF THERE AND-"

"He's not here." Hikari said calmly, picking a note form the table and reading it out loud. "Dear Asuka/Misato: I went to the arcades with Kensuke, will be back later. Shinji."

Hikari turned to smirk at Asuka. "Guess were gonna wait for that glass of juice."

"Shut up."

----- -----

"I don't get what the huge deal with these movies are." Asuka grumbled as she and Hikari laid on their stomachs, seeing a movie on the TV set. "The guys are always idiots, the girls are helpless bimbos, and it looks like a huge coincidence everything that happens to them both."

"The movies are made simply to show us how funny love is."

"There's nothing funny about love, Hikari." Asuka grumbled. "These are simple stories for simpler minds."

"It all depends on what your are seeing." Hikari said smiling softly as she saw the continuous misadventures of the male lead while he attempted to get the female lead to a secluded place and confess her love. "Sometimes these movies are reflected on real life."

"Oh please, Hikari." Asuka smirked, throwing popcorn at the hapless brunette. "Don't give that _life imitates art imitates life_ bullcrap."

"It's true." Hikari smiled, throwing popcorn at the smiling redhead. "Check out your love life with Shinji and yo-ACCK"

"I do not have a love life with Shinji!" The red head laughed out loud, jumping the poor, defenseless pigtailed girl and aiming fir a tickling attack. "DIE!!"

"Ack-No!" Hikari said, in between smiles and pants for air. "Hehehe-I'm-hahahaha-"

"C'mon, suffer Horaki." Asuka smiled, her finger digging mercilessly at Hikari's side, eliciting squeals and laughter from her. "That will teach not to-ACKK!!"

In a surprise turn of events, Hikari had managed to turn on Asuka, putting her on the bottom, launching a counter attack.

"Now you will see the amazing power of the Horaki Technique of Tickles…Thousand Tickle Strike!!" Hikari laughed and screamed as her nimble fingers seemed to be everywhere at the same time on Asuka's most sensitive spots; her ribs, her armpits, her stomach.

After minutes of squealing from both girls as well the occasional laugh, they both ended breathing heavily, a thin coat of sweat on their body."

"That was fun." Hikari panted, gasping for air.

"Y-yeah…form her spot, Asuka let the last giggles run thru her body. "Where did you learn to tickle like that?" she asked a she got up, getting a couple of bottles of water from the fridge.

Hikari seated herself in a lotus position, palms together, looking like a Tibetan monk. "Ancient secret of Horaki." She said in a cheesy Chinese martial artist tone. "Big sister Kodama handed secret technique tome, I will train Little sister Nozomi in secret of Horaki technique once she reaches age."

"You're a dork." Asuka smiled again. This hours had been the nicest she have had in a long while; she had been able to let go, to be a girl.

To forget who she really was.

"Maybe." Hikari stuck her tongue. "But I'm the dork that knows how to get the boy."

"Oh really?" Asuka smirked. "Do tell."

Hikari smile, picking the case of the digital recording they had been watching. "Did you know this movie was based on the real life of the author?"

"Somehow I doubt all the misfortunes that happen in the film could happen in real life."

"You know, you remind me of the girl in the movie." She smirked, making Asuka strangle a gasp of surprise. "And the guy reminds me of Shi-"

"DON'T!" Asuka yelled, jumping after Hikari.

"what's the matter Asuka?" Hikari smirked. "Are you scared that I let everyone on the empty apartment know that you care about him?"

"The minute I start caring about that idiot is the minute I eat my panties."

"Hope you invest in a air of edible ones then."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Asuka please…" Hikari said matter-of-factly. "It's obvious you like him."

"You're wrong."

"You've got all the markings of it…it's just like the movies."

"Hikari…You are crazy if you think I'm in love with Shinji."

"Well, you certainly look the part."

"Oh really?" Asuka grumbled. She plopped down on the couch, tucking her legs under her knees, crossing her arms at chest height. "Then please enlighten me."

----- -----

_AN. Yes! another atrocious fic by your truly. I really have no clue where this one will go, It just sort of came up while walking downtown and enjoying the souvenirs._

_This is based loosely on Ryoma's BLP, though not as good nor as chapter or length driven. Will it be multi chapter? will I finish it? will it have the same fate of 10 things and 30 kisses? Sincerely, I don't know. but stick around, hope you enjoy it._


	2. Diff'rent Strokes

**Cliché the first. Diff'rent Strokes.**

It had all been a bust.

She had somehow managed to leave the shower rooms from NERV with both her pride and her sanity relatively intact. She had somehow gotten enough presence of mind to stop staring at Shinji's…eyes, and had the good fortune of exiting the locker with no one the wiser.

"_Gott_, I'm all wet thanks to that idiot Shinji…"

Plus, the fact that her plug suit was made of whatever the hell it was made but made absorption of fluids easy, made it easier to not worry about being wet from all the…water…

_"Are you sure you recorded the whole audio?" _

_"Yes, I did. sigh You have the sickest hobbies, Misato." _

_" giggle I know." _

"_Scheiße_…" Asuka swore under her breath. "This is all Hikari's fault. Why did she have to put all those ideas in my head?"

She stomped on the floor, feeling again the tall tale signs of a blush coming to her. "It's not like I see that idiot like that…but…"

She closed her eyes, resting against the wall. Involuntarily, her mind pictured the various images of Shinji, the concern in his eyes, the way his brow knitted together when explanations eluded him.

The way his chest glistened with the water of the shower…

His damp hair, matted against his head, just begging to be touched, calling for Asuka to grab him by his the top of his head and the back of his neck to-_NONONONONONO_-

"_NEIN!_" Asuka screamed, shocking her head several times, willing those…_thoughts_…to go away. Somehow, they felt wrong, they felt…dirty. Like the way she had felt when Arael had entered her mind, only this time, she had no one to blame.

This time, it was her own mind playing tricks on her; that was the truth; that _HAD_ to be the truth.

And yet…

When the angel manifested itself, when it sent that bright, searing beam of light, when it lodged itself in her brain, it affected her mind, causing her to experience a nightmare centered around the death of her mother.

It also showed her in a shocking jarring way her own conceited and antisocial mask, shattering it into a million pieces; it took all of her will power to stop her mind from shutting down, but it left her on shaking grounds.

It also made her realize to a certain degree her concealed feelings for Shinji

"NO!" she whispered forcefully to herself. "I am not in denial, I am not in love with him and I'm most certainly _NOT_ lusting after him." She repeated to herself, letting a slow breath of air out, looking for the clarity it might bring.

"I'm not crazy…"

"Psychologists agree that talking to one's self might be the first sign of losing one's mind."

_Great._

"What the hell are you doing here wonder girl?" Asuka snarled at Rei.

"I am walking thru the hallways." Rei stated the logical answer to Asuka's question. Asuka rolled her eyes.

"I can see _that_." She gestured to the area around herself. "What I meant was why are you walking on the hallways by yourself."

"If I wish to get to my lodging in any way, I would have to leave the locker room, therefore I walk. Since no one offered, I walked alone." She conked her head to the side. "Are you feeling well, Sohryu?"

"O-of course!" Asuka answered turning her face "Wh-why do you ask?"

"Your questions are illogical, or at least rhetorical." She said as she continued walking in step with Asuka.

"Just a lot on my mind." Asuka grumbled.

"Sometimes it helps to talk about it."

"Oh really?" Asuka said in an exasperated tone. "And who do you suggest I talk to? You?"

"No." Rei stated calmly. "I have to get to my dwelling since tomorrow we have to go to school." She walked farther down the hallway and into the awaiting elevator.

Asuka kept walking next to her, not really paying attention to what she was doing, more like following the sound of Rei's voice.

"I believe Ikari is the better suited choice for any matter, as he appears to be both close to our generational gap, as well as in close contact with you." Rei stopped to look at the expression on Asuka's face, noticing she still appeared to be deep in thought.

"Although it would be understandable your hesitation to see him, after the occurrence in the men's shower room." Rei said looking for a reaction from Asuka. That did it.

"Wh-wha?" Asuka turned to look at Rei's impassible red eyes. "You…know about that?"

Rei turned to her and her eyes danced with mischief, although her face remained the perfect poker face. "All of the areas are under audio and video surveillance to an extent."

"Y-you mean NERV can see and hear us when we bathe and go to-" She topped short, expecting Rei to cut in. When the blue haired pilot remained silent, Asuka faltered, and opted to keep quiet.

"I will assume you refer to if NERV high command logs a visual and audio record of our baths as well as the usage of the lavatories for bodily functions for fetish purposes; in which case I will have to say no."

"They better not. Damn _Hentai_!"

"I am informed they simply are recorded to see if there is any unauthorized divulge of secrets."

Asuka really didn't know what was more freight inducing; the fact that NERV had so little regards for individual privacy, the fact that Rei was apparently Ok with it, or the sneaking suspicious that Rei was toying around with her.

"Perhaps it would be best if you spoke with those closer to you; I believe the options concerning womanly needs might be better suited for Major Katsuragi."

_Scratch That._ Asuka thought. _She is definitely toying with me_.

"She wishes." Asuka grumbled. "It would probably make her day if I were to come and spill my beans. Then he would have plenty of blackmail material."

"Why would you feel like everybody expects you to fail?"

"Because everybody does." Was the dishearten answer from the Red head.

"If it's something you need a more closer rapport to discuss with, you might want to consider Class Representative Horaki."

Asuka's laugh echoed thru the elevator car. "She is the reason why this whole thing happened."

"Very well, then." Rei sighed and closed her eyes. _Sohryu does have difficulty creating a rapport with anybody_. She thought to herself. Opening them, she waited until they reached the appropriate floor and pressed her button. Asuka looked at the floor code and turned to Rei.

"I can't believe I'm doing this…With you of all people but…"

Asuka let out a sigh, and then turned to Rei. "You got a minute? I really need to talk to someone unbiased and neutral."

"Do you wish for me to leave?" Rei asked.

"No." Asuka took another deep breath and looked straight ahead. "I may not like you…in fact, I think you have little to none redeeming qualities whatsoever, but I know you well enough to know you are as emotional as a rock, and that logical thinking is probably the only thing you are good at."

"Are we finished?"

"No." the Second Child said turning towards Rei, her face still red and flushed from the outburst. She paced back and forth in the small car. Looking like a caged lioness on the prowl. Finally she stopped and looked at Rei.

"I need your help."

Rei simply nodded, expressing wordlessly her acknowledgment.

"What do you think of Shinji?"

"Ikari is an excellent pilot." The pale skinned girl said after reflecting on her answer for a moment.

"Not that," Asuka groaned, beginning to feel all her hatred for the blue haired, pale albino was justifying itself. "What do you think of him on a more general level."

"H-he is a nice cook…" Rei began unsure of where this was going. "And he likes to keep things clean."

"Listen Rei, stop this whole Spock-logic thing." Asuka said, while the veiled and obscure reference to a distant pre second impact science fiction show went unnoticed by Rei. "Do you like him?"

Rei thought about the question for more then a few heartbeats before answering. "I…like Ikari very much."

Approaching the elevator doors, the German girl let out a soft breath, almost like a gasp, and looked at the reflection on the polished doors.

"Exactly how much?" She asked hesitantly, closing her eyes, a slight frown now present on her face.

"I do not understand…" Rei replied, thrown off but still keeping her composure. "I enjoy the time we spend together; he has taught me basic cooking and care taking, as well as the notion of keeping my dwelling clean. Is that what you mean?"

"JUST ANSWER THE _VERDAMMT_ QUESTION!!"

Rei did not reply, instead choosing to stare at the door of the elevator. Asuka let out a forced sigh and walked back to the corner, crossing her hands on her chest, not looking at the other girl as she awaited some response from her.

It seemed like forever; the seconds ticked away, slowly transforming themselves into minutes; the rhythmic clicking of the floor indicator echoing on the silent car. It felt ominous, oppressing, like a suffocating miasma emanating from within the two current occupants on the elevator, until finally Asuka could not take it anymore.

"What the hell do you think you are doing? Trying to build up the scene with some kind of dramatic pause?" Asuka questioned, obviously aggravated. "Do you think that you are gonna get more answers by letting me cook slowly in my own stew?"

"No, that would be childish and clichéd."

"At least we agree on one thing." Asuka grumbled quietly, nodding her head approvingly.

"Follow me."

"What are you doing?" Asuka blinked as Rei exited the elevator.

"You are in distress, and feel the need to talk to someone, yet do not wish to do so with your closest friends and living companions." She continued while walking out.

"Since your logical options are not viable and this can, in turn, progress into severe emotional breakdown, I will hear you out."

"Distress? Severe Emotional Background!? Hear me out!?" Asuka repeated back shocked. "Are you kidding here?"

Rei simply turned, preventing the elevator doors from closing. "I am a good listener."

As Asuka followed dumbly, only one thought kept repeating itself as she fell in step behind Rei, walking out the door and towards the dimly lit room.

_This has got to be a joke._

"Besides, I am well versed in the psychological ramifications and trust issues involved a situation such as yours."

"NOW WAIT JUST A DAMN MINUTE FIRST!" Asuka's shout echoed on the lonely cafeteria. "I might be going insane to actually believe for a second Hikari's recent stupidity, and I might think the cause of this is the strange fixation she has on the stooge, BUT I'LL BE DAMNED IF I LET YOU PICK MY BRAIN APPART!"

"Are you quite finished?"

"NO!" Asuka shouted, searched for any more things to say to Rei, decided she had already told them all either in the recent past or on the recent hour, Finally, she settled for stomping her feet against the floor and letting out a defeated sigh. "Ok, I'm done."

"Good." Rei answered as she pushed a hot paper cup towards Asuka and signaled a recliner nearby.

"What the hell is this about?"

"Maybe a cup of tea will bring everything into perspective." Rei pointed out. "Lie down."

"What?"

"It is customary when you look for answers to lie down in a recliner while the other person is taking notes." Rei calmly said.

"Please tell me you're kidding." Asuka slapped her head, not really believing Rei. "Where do you learn all this?" Asuka asked in amusement as she seated on the recliner. Rei's eyes frowned when she realized Asuka wasn't going to be following correct procedure, but decided that the session could continue anyway.

"I happen to like reading books on human psychology." Rei said neutrally. "I have also seen the biometrics when Dr. Akagi has a session with me individually and us 3, so I'm sure I will be able to mimic her with minimum mistakes."

"What? Do you expect me to lie down and talk about my childhood?" Asuka asked sarcastically. "This is stupid."

"Just Imagine I am not here." Rei said blankly.

"That would be easy." Asuka grumbled, tucking her legs underneath her knees.

"And speak your mind like you did back when I found you without inhibitions."

"Yeah, easy as cake." Asuka said as she watched Rei take out an put on a pair of cracked glasses.

"Now let's start from the beginning."

"Oh for the love of-"

----- -----

"Ok, let me draw it out for you." Hikari began sarcastically, pausing the picture on the TV set, while she took out her notebook and pen.

Asuka groaned and sulked. "Is this like school work? Because I am not going anything." She stated petulantly, crossing her arms and turning to a side, like a bay who refused to eat.

"Shut up, listen, and learn." Hikari bit out, smirking, sitting next to the Red head. "You and Shinji are like the match made in romantic comedy heaven; if one where to go by the tons of romantic comedies, drama, books, manga and so on, it's a stated fact you two are supposed to be together."

"You know, it must be tough moving your mouth a lot and nothing remotely bright coming out." Asuka shot down, grumbling.

"You're kidding." Hikari's snorted. "Let me draw out the parallels between you and him so you can finally understand what every one sees, why everyone picks on you, why you are known as the newlyweds and you are either too blind or deluded to see." She smiled, grabbing Asuka by the arm and making her sit next to her, and ignoring the sputters and anguished cries of _It's not like that_ from the red head, Hikari pressed play.

"Lesson the first. Boy and Girl are very different." Hikari began, while Asuka simply snorted at that.

"Well boys and girls are different, Sherlock." Asuka began, a sly look on her face. "You see, girls have breasts and boys don't." she enjoyed for a brief second the look of embarrassment on hikari's face before pressing ahead.

"Also boys have a pen-"

"That's not what I meant, Asuka!" the blushing class rep yelled at her best friend, noticing the smile and realizing she had been played.

"Fine, if you don't want to hear me explain how your relationship with Ikari is-"

"That's the problem right there." Asuka told her, turning her face as if in front of her was the most distasteful food she had ever seen; somehow the image of Misato in a frilly pink apron carrying the plate with pride and joy seeped in.

"That…_Baka_ and me have no kind of relationship whatsoever…there is no relationship…it's only a matter of convenience, it has always been since we met."

Hikari smiled at her. "C'mon Asuka, you sleep together, bathe together, eat together-" She let the last part hanging, allowing Asuka to cut in to give the same explanation she always did.

"Under the same roof, not in the same bed, bath and table!"

"Those are minor technical difficulties." Hikari smiled, evilly. "I'm sure Misato would see the other way if you told her."

"I would be more surprised if she actually put her foot down and stopped any kind of PDA Shinji and I had." Asuka said absently, while she fished thru the rest of the popcorn.

However, for the moment, silence reigned supreme. Only to be broken by a gasping Asuka and a shrieking Hikari.

"I-I really didn't meant it th-"

"Asuka!! Do you realize what just happened?"

Asuka looked at the overjoyed, smiling face of Hikari Horaki and dreaded the following moments. She looked left, then right, trying to find something, anything to divert her opponent's attention.

"Uh…"

"Do you realize what this means??"

A low, grumbling _squawk_ told her that Pen-pen had finally breached his small refrigerated Bedroom and had every intention of facing the bright new world at 5.00 p.m. Asuka immediately devised a plan, a plan so perfect, so ingenious only another tactical gen-

"Uh…"

She frowned when She saw Pen-pen give her an unblinking stare that somehow reminded her of Ayanami, before turning around and going into his refrigerator again.

"Uh…"

_Bastard!_ Asuka thought, somehow she was sure the overweighed bird had been able to see her plan.

Hikari however kept talking blissfully unaware that Asuka had stopped paying attention to her diatribe in order to save her sanity. "-and that is probably like point number 7 or 8." She stopped, took some air, and wrapped it up.

"But that's besides the point; this is a huge thing, don't you think?"

Asuka's first reaction was to scream _NO!_, and then, while Hikari was still reeling from the strength of her scream to ran as far away as possible from her crazed friend.

Instead, she chose the, arguably, dumbest choice she could.

"I have no clue about what you just said, but I'll agree if you leave me alone."

"Asuka!" Hikari said shocked. "Don't tell me you don't believe in this?"

"I don't even know what you are talking about!"

"You and Shinji are behaving like couples do in romantic comedies."

----- -----

"Stop right there." Rei's calm voice came thru, stopping Asuka's rambles. "I just want to see if I understood this correctly."

Asuka groaned and closed her eyes in frustration. _Why was Misato taking so long?_ She thought to herself as Rei reviewed her notes.

"Class representative Horaki informed you that you and Ikari were exhibiting the same behavioral patterns other couples do?"

"NO!" Asuka yelled. "Number one; Hikari said that we are _exhibiting the same behavioral pattern other **romantic comedies couples **_do."

"And that offends you."

"YES! We are not a couple."

"You two live together." Rei said as if this sole sentence carried all the truth in the world. Asuka simply grumbled something about impossibilities and understanding while Rei continued. "You two have the highest sync scores, your tandem attack was probably the best executed strategy by all of NERV operations." Asuka turned to look at Rei whose voice had gradually gotten firmer, as if she too had reached a realization by deductive reasoning, but still had one last puzzle piece missing.

"Wonder girl …"

"Please tell me the reason Miss Horaki realized that you were behaving like a couple."

Asuka whimpered a suffocated sob. Why was the world ganging up on her? Why were they all hell bent on proving that she and that…that…_Baka_…had anything even remotely resembling a relationship?

"Sohryu?"

Letting her head fall, Asuka whispered the reason.

Rei frowned. "I do not understand."

Asuka smiled a pathetic smile. "Of course you wouldn't." She opened her eyes and decided to get it over with quickly.

"All romantic comedies follow the same set of rules; the clichés of romantic comedies; every time you see one, chances are you'll spot at least half a dozen of these."

"I have never seen one of those romantic comedies you speak of."

"You're lucky, they're fluffy and girly and just generally stupid."

"Yet Class Representative Horaki seems to believe in their stereotypical profiling of couple behavior." Rei pointed out. "And Class Representative Horaki is not someone to engage herself in such follies." Rei turned again to Asuka.

"Which is why I don't understand, please explain to me the logical validity in such a statement."

Asuka paled. "Well…" She began, unsure of how to control this conversation. "Look at it this way. Whatever boy is, girl is very different or just plainly opposite."

Rei noted this down on her notebook, silently.

"For instance; Boy might be the star soccer player, while girl is the geek with glasses." She began, trying to remember each and everyone of the stupid cliché that screamed _Boy and Girl are opposites_.

"Or boy is a hot headed stunt pilot and girl is the cool, calm collected type who also happens to be her immediate superior." Asuka continued. "Or Boy is the naïve army officer in charge of care taking for the girl who is a top secret weapon/project but is also a bitchy, snobby, spoiled brat."

"Or the boy is unable to perform however he feels it is his duty to protect the girl, who is injured and unable to respond." Rei said softly. "Maybe he is unsure of his feelings and tries to negate them, while the girl in unable to express her own feelings."

She turned to look at Asuka again. "But that is illogical." Rei said, a frown across her pretty features. "Why would the boy subject himself to such a situation?"

"What do you mean?"

"I understand the point of the whole cliché; the more ridiculous the contrast, the more it is doubted that boy and the girl could ever be a couple. What I do not understand is why he would purposefully go after someone he has so little in common with."

"Maybe the boy is lonely and feels no connection, and the girl, even though she can't vocalize her feelings fro him, is able to give him an anchoring point."

"However, let's visualize this from more personal perspective." Rei said. "How do you feel about Ikari?"

"Wh-" Asuka faltered; It is generally accepted that the human thought and reaction processes are based on two similar, yet different concepts; Thought or thinking is a mental process which allows beings to model the world according to preconceived concepts, and to deal with it effectively according to their goals, plans, ends and desires.

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT HAS TO DO WITH THIS?" As always, Asuka feared coming face to face with her

"It is clear you feel threatened by any other female's closeness with Ikari, which is why you lash out at both him and said female." Rei looked up. "In this case, me."

"Of course not." Asuka bluffed her way out. "That is absolutely ridiculous."

"But if we were to guide ourselves with the concept presented by Class Representative Horaki, then we…" She gestured to both herself and the German. "Should accept the fact that, compared to Ikari, we are the complete opposite; He is dubious of himself, unsure of how to interact with people; In that context both ourselves are different from him; You are more forceful and pushing while I have no desire to interact with anyone other than on NERV business."

"Ye-yeah I guess so..."

"Besides…" Rei replied. "You have to admit that you two living together does qualify for the behavioral pattern presented; you are complete opposites, fight all the time, live with a woman with loose morals and that has plenty of alcohol on hand."

"Wh-"

"You fight constantly, and then whenever he tries to get close to someone, you seem to always be nearby to sabotage his intentions."

"I could care less what that stupid moron does with anybody!" Asuka said agitatedly. "I could care less if he died a virgin, or simply just died."

"You don't really mean that." Rei's soft reply came.

"Oh yeah?" Asuka contested. "And how would you know?"

She waited for a reply from the quiet, blue haired girl, before deciding that she would have to prompt her again Unit 00 pilot, finally deciding that she would get no answer she spoke again.

"C'mon, Sigmund Fraud...I'm dying for you to tell me what you think I really meant?"

Rei shook her head slowly back and forth. "You do not wish to know the truth."

"What? Are you stupid?" Asuka chuckled as her mouth turned up into a smile. "I'd love to hear what you have on your mind." She replied, her voice laced with sarcasm. "So please, go right ahead and give me your thoughts on the subject."

"You will not interrupt me with any physical outburst?"

"I'll save all my abridged commentaries until the end."

The red eyes of Rei Ayanami looked at Asuka for a moment before breaking the gaze and staring off into the distance of the Geo front. "You become upset upon watching Ikari in such a state of undress."

"WHAT?" the redhead shouted, "Why should I be upset that..."

"Not at him." Rei continued, silencing the Red head. "At yourself for the feelings you are developing for him."

"Feelings?" Asuka exclaimed with an incredulous look on her face. "Developing? I take it back; you really are an idiot."

"A Deluded idiot." She turned to the side, crossing her hands like a petulant child.

"For your entire life..." Rei continued undaunted by the German's outburst. "You have succeeded in pushing people away, you have systematically refused to allow anybody to be close to you for fear that you will be left alone."

"Now you are starting to see the error in that logic." Rei said turning back to look at her fellow pilot.

"If I didn't know for a fact that you are _pretending_ to be a quack, I'd call you a quack myself." Asuka replied. "So now you're telling me that I am mad at myself for liking the idiot and on top of that I have abandonment issues."

"Again, my knowledge of basic psychology is minimal at best-"

"You can say that again."

"But I believe this is an accurate prognosis."

"You're as accurate as you are normal, Wondergirl." Asuka answered with a sarcastic grin, getting up from the recliner. "But thanks for the laughs, I really needed that."

Rei regarded the other girl curiously for a moment before she spoke, realization coming to her red eyes.

"I…see…"

There was something in the way she said it, in the tone behind those two simple words that made Asuka stop and turn to Rei, staring deep into her eyes.

Blue met Red, and Rei could see the internal battle brewing within Asuka's psyche, the forceful realization that she, in fact had deeper feelings other than hatred and resentment for Shinji Ikari making it all the more confusing.

"You are afraid that he does not have the same feelings as you."

Asuka stood in silence, arrogance and posture long forgotten; time froze, it felt like it had been thrust into pause, like they had been encased in resin, slowing down so she could actually listen to the space between her own heartbeats. Her sky blue eyes tainted with fear and embarrassment.

The First Child had ripped her inner most secrets out and put them on public display.

Just like Hikari had before.

----- -----

"WHAT!?" Asuka asked shocked. "What a joke! Behaving like couples do in romantic comedies" She said in a more natural tone of voice, grumbling under her breath.

"Well…" Hikari shook her head slightly back and forth. "It's pretty obvious to me..."

"I don't know what you mean."

"C'mon Asuka, even a deaf, dumb and blind guy with a shred of sensibility left within would be able to see it." She frowned. "The fact that you and him cannot just proves the point more."

"I live with the idiot," The Red head protested loudly. "Don't talk to me like this is the first time I have laid eyes on him. I can tell you for a fact he's annoying, spineless, immature, weak..."

"Caring, compassionate, loyal, handsome..." Hikari said as she interrupted her friend, "But most important of all, he worships the ground you walk on; he loves you and cares for you deeply."

Hikari paused for dramatic effect, keeping in with the cliché motif before she released the last word.

"And so do you."

----- -----

"Why are you really here?" Asuka asked in low, hushed tones. "What do you really want?"

"I already told you I only wished to hear you out." Rei said, her appearance never changing, even going so far as to look genuinely pleased, a small smile grazing her lips. "But this has been truly…illuminating."

"Should I be?" Rei answered softly, pondering for a retort. "Are you worried he would choose me instead?"

"WHAT? ARE YOU STUPID?" Asuka screamed. "Why should I be worried about that? Why would I be jealous about that little dork? I don't care what he does!"

"If you are not concerned then I will not be either, Sohryu."

"Well, I feel the same way." Asuka started defiantly. "Besides he is exactly the opposite of what I would like in a man; He's wimpy and whinny; and he's definitely nothing too big to look at, not like Kaji."

"So it shouldn't concern you if I were to date him then?"

"Nice try, First." Asuka smirked, seeing the trap a mile away. "But you already accepted you don't feel that way about him."

"Feelings can change." Rei stated coolly. "Which is the best way to start a romantic comedy if we are to follow the profile Class representative Horaki brought forward. Opposites do attract, and sometimes those you think would make an unlikely couple might be the best suited for the others."

"I'll agree with that." Asuka nodded approvingly, "But not Shinji…He's an annoying brat, a boring little boy, a stupid pervert with nothing good to look at."

"Not at all…" The blue haired girl stated flatly. Asuka's eyes widened at that. She turned to Rei.

"I think he had endearing qualities…" Rei said, a slight blush forming on her face as she said it. "Besides, I think he is rather…attractive…"

She got up after that, leaving Asuka to muse about Rei's conversation, the soft padding of her feet against the floor the only sound to be heard.

Slowly, Asuka got up from the recliner, and finished her tea, looking at the time; She had spent 3 hours waiting for Misato and avoiding Shinji. And somehow had ended up talking about it with Rei.

----- -----

_AN: Well, I sincerely hope this was a good second chapter, but I somehow can't chake the feeling that this is a subpar second chapter at best. My only consolation is that this one is going on a direction, not like another one of the fics I'm working on which shall remain nameless (starts with a number between 0 and 2  
Now, the question some of you might have is Is this drama? is this comedy? is this a post-modern deconstruction of romance using the elements of Hollywood movies as leif motiff?_

_Sincerely, I have no clue.  
_


	3. Meet cute romantic date

**Cliché the Second. Meet-cute-romantic-date.**

The canned laughter from the TV set was the only sound in the living room; the soft glow emanating from the screen the only source of light in the night.

In front of the TV, decked in her usual attire of short blue cotton shorts and yellow tank top, Asuka Langley Sohryu laid on a soft pillow, a cotton throw around her body. Next to her, almost like a parallel figure, mimicking her every move, even the stance in which she currently was laid Pen-Pen, his avian eyes staring straight ahead at the Tv set.

When she turned to watch it sideways, Pen-Pen did too.

When she grabbed a cookie from the bowl in front of her, and placed it in her mouth to much it, resting her chin in the soft pillow she had; Pen Pen will do so with his beak.

She was half tempted to punt the stupid bird into oblivion.

_How much longer is this gonna take?_

As she laid down on the futon staring at the TV, but not really in the watching mood, Asuka Langley Sohryu felt her mood souring at an alarming rate; almost as if a strange, alien body was systematically taking control of her; like a virus slowly overdriving the core program of a computer.

----- -----

"How much longer is this gonna take?"

Maya sighed.

"I already told you Misato." Came the sound of Ritsuko Akagi over the videophone. "We have to verify the readings received over the tests, and _you_ have to transform all those readings into programmable data for the next simulations."

Both women exited the bridge, each carrying roughly the same stack of papers, bickering and fighting and looking more like a pair of high school students on their way to detention than the Science Director and the Operations Director of NERV.

"You would think that in this day and age NERV would switch to digital documents over paper." Misato added with distaste. "We are probably destroying all the trees leftover from second impact. Wonderful achievement from the agency designed to protect mankind."

"It's recyclable…" Ritsuko added in short, clipped tones. "I need to go home, and take care of my cats." The blond doctor finished softly.

"Cleaning and petting kittens sure sounds like fun." Misato added sarcastically.

"Well at least I do the cleaning, unlike other conniving, shrewd adults who shall remain nameless, Major Katsuragi."

"Hey! Shinji lost fair and square. It's not my fault he sucks at yan-"

"Put a sock in it and get moving." The doctor said humorlessly. "The sooner we reach the designated limit, the sooner we can leave." Ritsuko finalized putting another stack on top of the one already in Misato's hands.

"Someone better go tell the kids this might take a while." Misato grumbled. "I'm sure Asuka will be jumping of joy."

Still thinking about what the two other "grown-ups" had been saying, Maya never heard the first time Ritsuko called her name The sound of Ritsuko's louder tones brought Maya's thoughts to a screeching halt.

"Maya!" Ritsuko's voice was clearly annoyed. "I'll be over at Misato's office going over the reports; if there's anything important page us immediately."

"Y-yes Sempai."

"Ritsu" Came the nasal sounds of Misato's whining. "Tell her to take care of Asuka and Shinji; like getting them something to eat or-"

"Misato!" Ritsuko screamed outraged. "I will not reassign the manpower we have to take care of the pilots you were assigned to be the legal guardian of. Besides, they're not pets."

"But I'll be stuck here for some time and when Asuka gets hungry she gets cranky."

Ritsuko carefully considered this, and though about the irate Red head, and how long it would take for her to eventually reach them and demand being take home.

"Maya!" Ritsuko said after a moment of introspection. "Inform Section 2 to be ready to escort the pilots to Major Katsuragi's home, and find them ASAP." she turned around, thought better, poked her head in again and threw a shrewd look at the two male technicians on the bridge.

"And make sure neither Shigeru, nor Makoto use the HUD to play computer games again…last time this happened Fuyutsuki thought we were actually being attacked by enemy forces."

With that last comment the Dr. exited the room, while the two other Sr. techs hid their blushing faces from the other three Jr. techs assigned to the bridge.

Why was it that it was always her who ended up babysitting these idiots? Was it a well-kept secret on her job description? She wasn't even an Operations Officer; Misato should be the one here taking charge and command, _she_ should be with Rits-Dr. Akagi going over those last batches of tests, looking for every painful fluctuation, every abnormality.

"Man, my ass is numb from all the sitting."

Instead, here she was listening to the in-depth conversation of dumb and stupider over women, drifting and rock bands; every once in a while salted with the inane comments of Makoto's huge geekiness.

At the least they should allow them to get something to drink and eat.

"I'm going to get something." Maya said suddenly, getting up quickly from her seat and going over to the main entrance of the command bridge. She turned to look at those two idiots, remembering eerily back to the time they had all spent in the academy together.

"Behave all of you." Maya muttered when both male specimens continued to dissect the theory of which newest idol should be inducted into NERV to become its PR officer.

----- -----

The walk towards the lounge area was, as always, lonely. Maya sighed and thought about her plans for the night; dinner and a movie sounded wonderful, but not by yourself; a frozen TV dinner and the flick of the week were not really what she would expect out a normal mid 20's woman.

She knew she wasn't drop dead gorgeous; maybe cute could sum her looks.

She knew she did not have the striking…assets of Misato, or the quiet sophistication of Rit-Dr. Aka-_ Ahh dammit all - _Ritsuko. Or the stunning model likes looks of Satsuki.

She was plain, mousy Maya Ibuki; nerdy, easily flustered and with a slight fixation on Sempai.

So, in hindsight a frozen TV dinner in her lonely apartment followed by the cheesy flick of the week was exactly what she should expect of herself.

However, as she walked into the lounge, she was greeted by something...odd.

The Designated pilot for Unit 02; Asuka Langley Sohryu was there.

Maya's interaction with the German Red head had been minimal at best, but she had been on the bridge during the tactical operations against the angels since the beginning so she knew the_…Overbearing _nature and the other ways she could be.

When she had first showed up after the incident at the _Over the Rainbow_ Makoto, in a stunning display of a true _otaku _had mentioned that Asuka reminded him of some fictional pilot from a long defunct animation show.

That was when Shigeru elevated Makoto's status of geekines into _otaku _realms.

However, what was stranger was the fact that, even though she was alone, Asuka wasn't fuming; in fact, quite the contrary

She appeared to be unreasonably quiet and deep in thought.

Maya debated with herself if she should intrude on the Red head; judging by the look on her face, whatever had her thinking, had her troubled as well.

Maya sighed, she was never good with people, she would be the first one to agree to that; the only reason why she had raised so swiftly within the internal ranks of NERV was precisely because, without friends to derail her studying habits, she came top of the class.

Sighing again, she walked towards the vending machines, coins ready to choose her drink and junk food of choice.

Only to clash with the red gloves hand of Asuka Langley Sohryu.

"Ach, _Scheiße_!" Asuka muttered as the coin she was holding escaped under the machine. "Great, and that was my last coin."

There was something in the quiet, hushed tone of voice she said it, that made Maya look, _really_ look at the normally outspoken and verbally aggressive German for the first time.

Maya sighed. She wasn't as friendly as Misato, nor did she had the professional disposition of Dr. Akagi; again, she realized she was plain, mousy Maya Ibuki, but something about the dejected way Asuka had plopped down on the bench next to the dispenser, the way her eyes held a look of uncertainty, the whole way her body was currently behaving made her choose.

"Uh…Miss Sohryu, are you all right?"

"Not really…" Asuka said, leaning on the chair and closing her eyes, a pained expression on her face.

And Asuka could only think that somehow it was connected with Hikari's bizarre notion of love, and The First's hard logic.

"I feel sick."

The rest of the evening was quiet, and Maya finally got a hold of Shinji, and contacted Section 2 to take both pilots home. During the trek back, Asuka kept feigning sleep, not daring to look at the face of her roommate. As soon as she set foot inside the house, she retreated to her room, closing it and preparing herself for a long, sleepless night.

The dreams that time were faceless, blank dreams, but still she never got the desired rest, maybe she was sick after all; maybe she had something.

A virus.

If there was ever a good analogy for what was happening to her, that was the one: the great Asuka Langley Sohryu was being brought down by a virus.

A virus; a small unstoppable colonizing force that was currently taking over her; she could feel the shivers down her spine, the clammy feeling on her hand, the short, gasps for breath, the way she felt light headed and how her stomach seemed too lately to be queasy and easily excitable.

She should have known by the burning feeling of her cheeks.

On a subconscious, almost subliminal level, she had been aware of the changes that were happening; small, insignificant changes that, if one didn't looked closely, would be disregarded as nothing more than the daily living events on her life.

However, upon a closer look, those small changes were in fact a domino effect, and were currently conspiring to bring her down.

So Asuka chose to do something completely unusual to her; she decided to lay down and let it trample thru her body, completely sure that sometimes the best plan of action is to take no action.

However, there was something her brilliant, college educated mind had not taken into account.

Asuka Langley Sohryu was sick, all right; her body was currently the host of a virus.

But the source was not spoiled food (or Misato's normal cooking) but rather the unlikeliest source of all.

The shivers down her spine incremented exponentially as her hand were over ran by the cold, clammy, sweaty feeling, and her cheeks burned hotter still.

Behind her, Shinji Ikari was sitting, watching her with a sense of trepidation and distrust, ever since the episode on the bathing room, he had felt something was wrong and amiss, and upon arriving home after the long wait for Misato, when Asuka had informed him she didn't feel that well, he was sure of it now.

Asuka Langley Sohryu was sick.

Pity none of them were correct on the cause of her sickness.

And as the canned laughter continued to fill the uneasy silence on the room, Asuka couldn't help but remember Hikari's oh-sp-helpful "pointers"

----- -----

So the next day, Asuka stayed after school, dreading to walk back home with Shinji, and instead telling him Hikari had instructed her to stay and clean. As she saw him walk dejectedly and alone to the apartment, she spun on her feet and walked into the school, wordlessly taking the mop and bucket and flling it with water to begin cleaning the room.

"I can't thank you enough for offering to help me today Asuka." Hikari said as she finished sweeping the trash into the dustpan. "I would never have been able to finish on time.

Again, she was answered with silence.

Hikari frowned at that; throughout the day, Asuka had been either ignoring her, or hiding her face from her.

"Ok, Asuka." Hikari said, finally fed up with the way her friend had been behaving. "Tell me what's wrong."

Asuka trembled, and Hikari saw her back go stiff like a board, the immediate sign that she was going to unload. Hikari let out a calming, soothing series of deep breaths before scrunching her eyes for the eventual blow off.

"This is all your fault."

Hikari blinked, taken aback by the quiet words from Asuka.

"Uhh…I'm…sor-"

"NO!" Asuka shouted, her hands balled into tight fists, clenching and unclenching, while her whole body trembled with anger. "Do not finish that word. You have no idea how…how…" Asuka let out in a series of gasps.

"A-Asuka…" Hikari said soflty, going towards her friend. "What are you saying?"

Asuka gritted her teeth, baring her fangs at the face of her soon to be dead best friend.

"I'm saying that thanks to you and your idiotic crap I was this close of being tangled up with Shinji."

"What? But how?"

"I walked in on him and then feel and he caught me."

"That wasn't so bad." Hikari grumbled. "You made me think something else had happ-" The pigtailed representative trailed off, turning around to look at Asuka, who was currently helping her clean the classroom after class. However what caught her attention was the lovely shade of red hue tinting Asuka's face, and the way her blue eyes were looking at her black mary-janes.

"Don't tell me something **did** happen…" Hikari's astonished question was a mere whisper, yet in Asuak's head it felt like a fog horn breaking thru her self.

"Something **did** happen…" Hikari repeated as realization began to make it way, and Asuka found the floor more and more interesting.

"TELL ME WHAT **DID **HAPPEN!!" Hikari squealed, rushing into Asuka and grabbing her by the arms, but the German would not look up, choosing instead to mumble out what had happened.

Hikari smiled as the words slowly left her friends mouth, taking ion the meaning of them.

"Are you serious?"

That was it.

"OF COURSE I'M SERIOUS…I ALMOST SAW THE IDIOT NAKED!!"

"Oh my god, Asuka…that's so bold…I never thought that you would be so forward." Hikari replied with a blush on her face, unaware of the vicious glare Asuka was throwing her way.

"This is all your fault."

"Excuse me?"

Asuka was about to add something else, but instead turned around and crossed her arms stubbornly, resembling a pouting child. Hikari turned to look at the red head, marveled at the way she had changed her disposition; at first she had appeared overtly aggressive, however, that had lasted mere seconds before that look in her eyes was replaced again by a sense of foreboding.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The low chuckle coming form the red head made the class rep smile at that.

"Why would you think I wanna talk about it?" She said after a moment. "There's nothing to talk about." She said, before softly adding, almost like an afterthought she wanted no one to know about.

"Besides, it's stupid anyway."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

Asuka glanced up at the smiling freckled face of her friend. She felt foolish, like this was something that shouldn't be troubling her so, yet, for the life of her she couldn't shake the feeling that somehow talking about it would make it better.

She went thru her options again, and tried to analyze what had possessed her into confiding in Hikari.

"Are you a fan of romantic comedies?"

"Huh?"

"C'mon Asuka…" Hikari sat next to her and placed a hand on her friends arm. "Romantic comedies…you know…boy meets girl, girl hates boy, incredible series of events happen in the span of one hour and 30 minutes-ish and they live happily ever after."

Asuka sighed, becoming increasingly frustrated. "you mean the type of movies where the guy is an idiot, the girl is also and idiot and thru a series of unfortunate events they end up together?"

Hikari looked at the Red head for a second, weighing her options.

"Uhhh…" She stammered. "Well yes, I suppose you could call it like th-"

"Do you think they are right?"

"Huh?"

"What they say." Asuka continued, a quiet sense of urgency on her voice. "What they do; do you think love really can happen like that?"

It didn't take a genius to know what she was talking about. Hikari smiled softly to herself.

"Well, I _have_ watched more than a couple of those movies, so I think I can sum them up in two basic concepts."

And for the first time in her life, watching Asuka look at her face with a look of sheer determination on her face, Hikari Horaki finally felt like something other than plain, boring, straight lace Hikari Horaki, Class representative for Tokyo-3 Municipal High School class 2-A.

"Well, y'know it starts like this…" Hikari said as she watched Asuka lean against her back, but watching her still. "The basis of all romantic comedies is the _mabai-deau."_

"The what?"

"_Mabai-deau_."

"What the hell is that?"

"A _Mabai-deau_ is the first meeting." Hikari continued, smiling. "It's when the boy meets girl but with a twist." She stopped, remembering something Asuka, Toji and Kensuke had mentioned before, each with their own view of what had happened.

"Like how you and Shinji met at the _Over the Rainbow_."

"The pervert looked at my panties!" Asuka grumbled. "How is that a cute meet?"

"Well, in a lot of romantic comedies, the couple is polar opposites, different ways of being, and handling situations; like you and Shinji." Hikari said, ignoring Asuka's blunder.

"Why do you keep on bringing that?" Asuka crossed her arms. "I already told you there is nothing going on between me and th-"

"That's also the staple of romantic comedies; the denial, you know." Hikari giggled. "And that brings forth the whole name calling, bullying, kindergarten-type of school romance you seem to like."

Before Asuka could make her feelings vocal, Hikari cut her off.

"Their first meeting should be realistic but memorable. One can peek at the other's panties. . Or one forces the other to wear her red plug suit designed for girls. Or one can tease the other every day forever."

Looking at Asuka's expression, Hikari delivered her point home. "But it always has the same end; both boy and girl are now sharing something…it's like an attraction that none of them want to accept and say _Yes, I love you, let's make out and have a dozen babies_; but it's a mutual attraction, and it's used to break the ice; you have the funny awkwardness between the two…" Hikari continued.

"So in other words it's like when you bully Toji to stay after school and help you just so you could spend time with him?" Asuka slyly commented, making Hikari blush at this.

Hikari kept quiet, blushing and frowning at the laughing redhead in front of her.

"Well, you should know all about that…" Hikari began with a smirk. "After all, with you it's more obvious; you always get into embarrassing situations and misunderstandings…" she poke at the fuming redhead. "Just by your personalities alone…"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Asuka, honestly, if it weren't for NERV assigning you here to Tokyo-3 you and Shinji would never have met or talked or anything under normal circumstances."

The silence that followed made it obvious that Asuka had never thought about that, even when if she had said so in one of her many tantrums. Hikari felt her friends mood going downward with an alarming rate, and decided to correct t before Asuka fell into her usual routine of why it was better for her t be alone since there was no one up to the level of greatness that is Asuka Langley Sohryu

"But your _Mabai-deau_ provided you both with the chance of meeting, talking and taking it from there."

"…" Asuka kept silent, still not sure of what to do; she wasn't sure she was supposed to do anything, really, but still, the principle of it all demanded for her to appear…

Scandalized?

Outraged?

Annoyed and antagonized, ready to sulk back?

Somehow, Asuka felt that would have also been a terrible cliché.

Sensing her present state of mind, Hikari decided to try a different approach.

"Asuka…are you sure there is nothing going on between you two?"

"I…" Asuka took a moment to review what Hikari had told her, what had happened between them both.

Asuka took a moment and came with the truest, most honest answer she had at the moment.

"I don't know."

Hikari didn't say a word for a moment, trying to sort out the meaning behind Asuka's answer.

"Well, do you want it to be something?"

Asuka was about to answer, but stopped short, opened her mouth again and stopped, frowning, making it painfully obvious whatever the thoughts she was having, they weren't the ones she wanted at the moment. Finally after another long moment of silence, she lay down on the couch.

"I don't know…" She mumbled weakly. "I honestly don't know."

"You know..." Hikari stopped before rounding the corner, her browns knitted together in thought. "In the movies the sure fire way to make sure there is absolutely no romantic chemistry whatsoever is simple."

Asuka turned to look at her, but remained silent.

"Go on a date."

A beat, silence stretched to the point when it became something tangible, with form easily shattered by an outraged scream.

"WHAT!?"

----- -----

"Shinji…" The boy turned to look at the lying form of his roommate; she was currently lying face down, her chin resting on the pillow, her arms by her side.

And he saw that Pen-Pen was in the same position as her.

She had arrived several minutes before, walking into the room, and emerging in her usual get up of shorts and tank top, her hair in pigtails held together by red barrettes. She then walked towards the couch, taking a pillow and throwing it to the ground, letting herself fall into it mere seconds after.

She ahd stayed like that all thru the afternoon, moving only to change positions, while Pen-Pen mimicked her every position as well.

"What is it Asuka?"

Asuka turned to him, and looked straight into his eyes.

"Bring me some tea." She said after averting her sight, feeling her flush flaring, her cheeks brimming with heat and the only thing she could think of was why?

Why couldn't **she** just keep **her** sight on **him**? Why did **she** had to be the one to drop **her** gaze like an easily flustered, timid school girl? What was wrong with **her**?

So she chickened out at the last possible moment, ignoring Shinji's painful sighed as he said nothing, instead choosing to get up and fetch the tea.

As he walked around the kitchen, she couldn't help but ask herself why did it felt like he was watching her every movement, the way she moved, or how her head tilted to the side.

Without saying a word, Shinji walked up to her and brought the container and cups, before sitting next to her and putting one of the cups next to Asuka, who kept her gaze on the ground.

Asuka got up and sat, her feet tucked into her knees, while Shinji drank slowly the tea. Thru it all, the sense of awkwardness in the apartment was so acute and intense; so concentrated and consuming, it felt like an impossibly heavy curtain, like the heavy, humid mornings full of summer heat normal in this time of year in Tokyo-3.

The stillness, the absence of sound, the mind numbing, blatant deafening sound was the only thing that both teenagers could hear, despite the squawking of Pen-Pen, despite the TV set.

Only silence, thumbing and thumping to the rhythm of the blood pulsing thru their it, setting in the items decorating the apartment; the clock slowly ticking away, the electric pot whistling with boiling water, the floor pattern...everything but one another. Both Children fought hard to avoid being caught in the others gaze.

"Shinji…"

Only to be immediately broken by the quiet, almost shy, voice of Asuka Langley Sohryu.

----- -----

"Sure…the romantic date is when you know if there's chemistry or not between you both." Hikari rambled on. "That's the way it is with the hero and his leading lady."

"Don't make me laugh…" Asuka snorted. "I mean c'mon...That idiot is no hero..." Asuka said, while she and Hikari finished putting away the cleaning supplies.

"He's the farthest thing from a hero…he's a zero...an anti-hero..."

"Asuka, why do you constantly put him down?"

"C'mon Hikari…" Asuka said as they both made their way to the front gate. "He is the cowardly lion...dumb, pathetic and difficult to like." Asuka said as she kicked a stray pebble with all her might, stopping by the trash incinerator to dump the love letters she always found on her locker. "We are both exact opposites."

Hikari grumbled. "Didn't we have this conversation before?"

"The point is it'll never work out between us…He's always avoiding any kind of duty from anybody."

"But he-"

"While the normal hero is lead to an eventual redemption, I'm sure that if the idiot was a character on any kind of movie, his final state of mind would be more of resignation and defeat rather than overcoming fate." Asuka finished forcefully.

"Hell, I'm sure that the only times he has been seen to spring into action is when he has to save the doll and m-"

Asuka stopped short, replaying the past events on her mind.

_Gaghiel. The angel of water. The way they had met, like a head on collision waiting to happen. How he managed to help her, never giving up, on the brink of the Eva shutting down, and the way it felt good to be curled against him._

_Israfael. The angel of Music and Dance. The synchro training. The last night. The soft, feathery touches of his breath on her lips. Her tears calling out "Mama". How she woke up disoriented, but still smelling his faint smell.  
_

_Sandalphon. The angel of the unborn womb. The heat of the magma. The knife hurled. How he had leapt after her, and the strength as he held on to her for dear life. and afterwards how close they had sat next to the other on the ride back home.  
_

_Leliel. The angel of shadows. Seeing him being engulfed, lost. The sense of fear witnessing his return, and the anger and the happiness when she saw him back. How many hours she had spent next to his sleeping form?  
_

_Zeruel. The arm of god. The flashes of white, the impeding sense of defeat, only to see him charging back, and then to see him being lost again. How many nights had she spent alone, and awake wishing for his safe return?  
_

_Arael. The angel of light. The anguish, the desperation, the agony and distress. The feeling of being forsaken, of being alone. Of depression and grief and feeling so soiled, so dirty she couldn't see at her own reflection on the mirrors, and yet-  
_

In all of them, with no exception, he was always there, the only constant in her trials and tribulations. The only one who, no matter how hard she had pushed, would never go away.

"Ok, Hikari…" Asuka tuned to her friend, a brief glimpse of acceptance on her eyes. "You might have a point there. So, according to your expertise and to those movies you love so much, how should one go around for a first date?"

"Well…It needs to be something fun both can do together, and it has to be so romantic they'd have to be swimming in denial to not feel anything, you know kinda like you and Shi-"

"Ok, Ok…I get your point…" Asuka groaned. "I don't need another lecture on the dynamics of this romance mush again. Just give me an idea or something."

"What for?"

"B-but Asuka…" Hikari stammered. "The boy is supposed to be the one who comes up with those."

"That idiot? Please!" Asuka seemed outraged. "If left to his own devices, he will probably take me to the arcade with the rest of the stooges, or to a classical music concert."

"But those are nic-"

"Yeah, but you said it yourself." Asuka turned to Hikari, winking. "It has to be memorable."

"Well…I suppose it could be as simple as a walk on the park..." Hikari began, getting easily into the spirit of things.

"How about fishing for garshapons on the UFO catchers…" Asuka retorted, imagining expanding her ever growing collection of capsuled toys.

"Or picking up an autistic younger sibling from day care …" Hikari giggled as she remebered wh-

"She's not his sister." Asuka interrupted, her voice a mix of annoyance, anger and mirth.

"Who?" hikari answered, truly confused.

"Rei. She is not the idiot's sister." Asuka sniffed, crossing her arms. "Although NERV might be close to a daycare center for her, they are not blood related."

"I never said that." The distaste in Hikari's voice was palpable. "Besides…Incest is wrong."

"C'mon…what was up with the whole autistic younger sibling simile?" Asuka smirked. "I agree they behave the same, and the only difference is that Shinji, while being an idiot, is not as socially inept as wonder girl, but still…"

"Asuka…that actually happened in a movie; the guy showed up to pick up his autistic younger brother who then asked him if he "made out" with the girl."

"And what happened then?"

"The usual: the boy was all awkward, and the younger kid kicked him in the crotch."

"So kicking someone's crotch is also an acceptable date activity?" Asuka wasn't able to disguise the mirth in her voice. "Nice!"

"Apparently in America." Hikari smiled back, catching the joke. "Or something like that."

Asuka smiled at Hikari, who simply nodded, accepting the unspoken thank you. Both girls shared a hug before parting ways.

"Thank you Hikari…"

"What are friends for?"

"Well, now that you mention it.''" Asuka said thoughtfully. "Would you mind lending me your stooge for tomorrow's crotch-kick-athon?"

----- -----

Shinji was looking at her, and why was it so difficult coming up with something as simple as asking him out? Why did he have to look at her with those big blue eyes that were just the right hint of blue and dark and-

"Uh…Asuka…" Shinji waved a hand in front of her face. "You haven't said a word in like a minute…Are you sure you are ok?"

Asuka shook her head to get rid of the cobwebs. Using the time to think her way thru.

"Shiji." The Red head began once she had finished. "Tomorrow we are going out."

"Uh…out" Shinji repeated dumbly. "A-Asuka are you-"

"Shut up, Shinji…" Asuka stood up and looked at him like a predator was looking at a cornered prey. "Like I said tomorrow we are going out to have some fun; it's Saturday, we have no school, no tests and there better be no Angels coming in tomorrow."

"W-well…Rei and Kaworu mentioned they might stop by to start the project we have-"

_"__Nein!"_ Somehow Shinji envisioned Asuka in a skintight red cat suit, a black leather trench coat and military cap.

The **_hardest _**part for him was the nice tingle he felt down in-

"**WE** are going out tomorrow." The red head said in a silky low tone, her manners and way suddenly like those of the old Asuka Langley Sohryu, her hand cupping Shinji's chin, tilting his head up, staring into those impossibly blue eyes, while she kneeled down at her waist, leaning closer and closer enough for him to see her ti-

"**We** are going to have fun, and **You** are going to pay." Asuka nodded to herself, closing her eyes to stop herself from staring to intently into Shinji's own blue ones.

Shinji nodded numbly still in rapt fascination, watching intently into Asuka's…eyes…as she slowly slid forward, thrusting her ample breasts within inches of the, suddenly, very excited boy. Quickly his eyes locked on the pair of breasts tantalizingly close to him.

Noticing the absence of an answer, or of the general whining coming from her roommate once he had realized he was supposed to pay for her, Asuka looked down at the still mesmerized boy. She gazed at him for a moment wondering why he seemed so happy.

Then it hit her.

And then, _she_ hit _him_.

"Pervert!" She yelled as she quickly straightened up and clutched her shirt to her chest, yanking the collar to neck height, but effectively leaving her tummy and navel exposed, the creamy silky skin just mere inches away from hi-

"Stop peeping at my body!" she grumbled as she walked to the couch and plopped down.

"Me!? Peeping at you!?" Shinji protested as he sat up. "**You** were on top of me! **You** were the one who almost poked my eye out with those things."

"I'm not going into specifics with a perverted idiot like you." She told him, following her statement with a pillow aimed squarely at his face.

"Ouch!" He said as the pillow flew straight into the intended target, falling back from the force of the throw. "What did you do that for?"

""Because you were trying to look down my shirt!"

"You stuck them out there. What did you expect?"

Asuka turned away so Shinji could not see her blush. She glanced down to her breasts and remembered the first words she had said while in his presence.

"Y-you didn't see…" She asked quietly. Shinji, unsure of what she meant never said a word. Asuka turned to him and looked at him, still with the faintest of blushes on her face.

"You know…you didn't saw anything, did you?"

"Who me?" he replied innocently. "I didn't see anything."

"Sure you didn't." She grumbled, smiling faintly at him.

"Sure I didn't." Shinji agreed. "Just like you didn't back at the Men's showers. At NERV"

Shinji smiled as he saw Asuka get red and sputter some nonsense, trying to come with a response. All the while he remembered what he did see; not everything but enough to make his dreams quite interesting for the next few nights...

----- -----_  
AN : Well, there it is, the official 3rd chapter; still firmly anchored into the romantic comedy cliches.  
I was actually intending on using Maya to deliver a point instead of Hikari, but, as much as OOC amuses me, even I couldn't wrap my mind around Maya imparting wise counsel and Asuka taking it in (wait...let me rephrase that.) Mainly because Maya, while not an authority figure, would never be so bold as to strike a conversation with Asuka, hence back at Hikari. I believe Hikari and Rei are the best duo for Asuka, since Rei's cold, hard logic deliver the point across, and Hikari's way pf being is more soothing for Asuka._

_However, that does not mean the rest of the cast won't make an appearance; after all, Shinji and Asuka are dating._

_And if you've seen those romantic comedies, you know what happens on the first date._

_Cheerio!_


	4. This kiss

**Cliché the third. The kiss.**

As he laid with his back against the wall, his head resting on his knees, relaying the events that had passed, Shinji was sure that somewhere along the line he had been engulfed again, his physical self dissolved into the LCL of his entry plug on the last batch of tests.

That was the only explanation for the series of rather bizarre and strange events that had been happening in the last few days. Either that or he was hallucinating again, and the harmonics-synch training exercise wasn't over yet.

He felt the warm liquid in the tight confines he was brushing against him, and he was sure that once he opened his eyes, he would see no light, and if he squinted and forced his sight, he will then see the orange tint of the LCL all around him.

That Asuka had intruded on the men's shower room, and walked up to him while he was in the middle of the fourth lathering, rinsing and repeat was, although not something normal, neither out of character for the girl that had made an entrance in his quiet, unassuming life quite a while ago (sometimes it felt like years) in the same way she kept a strange hold on it.

Like a gust of wind on a hot summer day.

And every time he thought of that comparison, he though of _that_ gust of wind on _that_ hot summer day.

So when she marched straight to him, her face the plain image of the verb "to fume" along with another choice adjectives, he was sure any time now the members of Section-whatever would find him turned into a bloodied pulp.

For whatever reason, he felt the need to protect himself by cupping his crotch with both hands while looking frantically for a towel to cover himself.

What happened afterwards was what made him question the reality of it all.

Asuka had stopped and fidgeted with herself, apparently noticing that he was in the middle of taking a shower until the moment she opened the door of the stall he was using. Somehow it felt like she was checking him out, and if he squinted a bit, he _might_ have been able to catch the faintest of blushes in his roommate's face.

_Nah! It must have been all the steam in the showers._

That was it! He was tired, exhausted and confused, that was the only explanation on why he had been having such a strange dream while in the middle of the training.

So as he lay within the liquid, trying to sort out the feeling and the actions, to find a link between them, he sighed tiredly. After hours of solo sync testing in Unit 01, the young pilot had already been mentally exhausted and just about close to collapse, and the little scene on the shower room hadn't helped at all.

He prayed once he got out Misato wouldn't be tied down with anything pressing, just so he could go home and get some sleep. Sighing, he opened his eyes, only to be greeted with Misato's steamy bathroom, the water, once hot now merely luke-warm. He got up, making sure the door was locked closed, before tying the towel to his hips, letting the water go down the drain.

He finished brushing his teeth, and stiffing a yawn, he dressed into his shorts and t-shirt, ready to go to sleep. As he was toweling his hair dry, his shirt thrown on to his shoulder, he opened the door, surprising Asuka in the process, her hand still poised on the place where the doorknob used to be.

They regarded each other for a second; Asuka was dressed in her usual yellow tank top and navy blue terry cloth shorts, shorts she now felt were so short, they could be booty shorts instead, while the tank top felt ridiculously short and tight, stretched up to the point where she felt the cloth rubbing against her skin.

Or maybe it was because she suddenly felt so…_naked_ as she saw Shinji in the middle of dressing, his hands mussing his hair.

Again, an awkward silence fell into the apartment, and it just _felt_ like they were having a lot of those recently. Asuka looked at Shinji's mused hair, the bangs falling onto his eyes, and she just felt compelled to draw them away with her fingers from his eyes. She could feel her hand twitching, almost as if it had a mind of her own, and it took all of her will power to force it to remain at her side, crossing her left arm over her chest protectively, almost reflexively, while her left one tugged at the him of her shirt, trying to pull it lower, filling it more like a piece of clothing than actual clothing.

Shinji stood transfixed, his hands absently patting his hair for fear that he might do something…_rash_. He had seen Asuka in the same clothes before, in fact he had seen her using the same combination just last night, but some how they seemed today that much more enticing, they felt that much more short and constricting, he couldn't help but stare at her with slightly opened mouth, trying desperately to say something incredibly suave, or remotely intelligent.

"Uh…" He stammered.

Of course he failed on both accounts.

----- -----

"So…"

Asuka sighed and closed her eyes, tilting her head lazily to her right to make Shinji know she was acknowledging his attempt to start a conversation. She opened her eyes and saw his smiling face, and asked herself again why was she doing this.

"Ah…D-did you…I mean was it good?"

Asuka smiled softly at the flustered attempts of Shinji, and decided to cut him some slack instead of blowing over his choice of words, even as the annoying voice inside her head was telling her to make him apologize for making it sound like they had done something perverted.

"Yeah…" She answered back, looking again at the moon high above their head. She remembered this one time they had been in the same position; they had just battled Matarael, and the three pilots had decided to enjoy the relative calmness and stillness of the night. After Rei had decided to leave them, Shinji and Asuka had stayed a bit more before calling it a night.

For Shinji, that was, perhaps the time he officially fell for Asuka; he had gotten up, and had already patted the grass of his plug suit, ready to walk back to the apartment when Asuka had called for him. Shinji had turned over to her and she had simply stretched her hand, wordlessly telling him to help her up, a playful smile and twinkle in her eye.

Asuka still wondered if Shinji had done it on purpose; she had given him her arm to trick him, and while pushing her up, she would pull him down to race him to the apartment, but somewhere along the line, she had pulled at him to hard, and he had pushed much to harder to avoid falling; the end result had been both of them tumbling down, her on top of him, and he was too surprised to try and get up; they were both leaning towards the other, looking straight into their eyes for what seemed like an eternity.

In the end, the stillness had been shattered by the passage of time, Asuka had gotten up with an anger that even for her seemed too forced to be true, while Shinji couldn't forget the look of her eyes, as he saw his own reflection on her blue orbs.

"Remember the time we were here?"

Shinji blushed and looked down, nodding with a small smile. "Y-yeah it was fun ba-"

"Of course it was fun, third…" Asuka said with a soft smile that took away the bite of her calling Shinji by his designation instead of his name. "You got to see me up close and personal and even hold me…" She stood up and stretched herself. "Any man in this city would have killed to be in your shoes."

She patted her skirt down and glanced at him. "I had fun today too…"

"Yeah, who would have thought dinner and a movie would be _that_ fun?"

Asuka smirked. "Oh please…you have to give me some credit…"

Shinji simply said nothing, but got up as well, not noticing, or perhaps ignoring the fact that he was too close into Asuka's personal space.

"Of course I had to salvage the whole date from your being you." She crossed her arms before adding with a hint of mischief. "What possessed you to think _that _was a decent restaurant to take a lady?"

----- -----

The weather was nice; not really sunny, not overtly cloudy.

Simply nice.

"Shinji are you ready yet?"

Asuka studied her reflection on the full-length mirror in front of her and smiled. She was, as always beautiful in every way; her long red hair was up in her usual half pigtails, her A-10's acting as berets.

Of course she was dressed in a sundress, she knew he liked it when she wore them, he had never said so out loud, but his wandering eyes had proved it time and again that he really really did love the way those simple dresses brought out her beauty and how they clung to her frame.

That hentai.

Instead of her usual yellow this one was a dark pink one, hugging her frame enticingly. She had debated between outfits (_not that it had anything to do with trying to dazzle the third_) and since this was going to be an adult date, the type where you realize once and for all if what you feel for another person is true or simple raving hormone-induced madness, she decided for the sophisticated-young adult approach.

The dark pink dress had been the latest one she had bought noticing it had been one that Shinji had spent some more minutes looking at while waiting for her to finish trying on clothes. The squared top, tight enough to accent her figure, but not tight enough to be deemed _slutty_, flowing into a skirt several tasteful inches over her knees, made a stark contrast against her pale skin and reddish brown hair, the white sandals she held in her hand ready to be slipped on once the idiot had finished getting ready completed her look. The faint traces of makeup, consisting mainly of lip-gloss and eye shadow, accentuated rather than masked her features. And to top it off, the faint smell of lavander wafted from her delicate skin.

She smiled and winked at her own reflection. Just because this was supposed to be a _get-it-over-with_ date didn't mean she wouldn't put her best effort behind it; at least, that way when they both realized that what they felt for the other (or in Asuka's case, once it became obvious her so-called friends _and_ foes they were simply grasping at straws) the blame wouldn't be on her side because she let herself go.

But deep within her, a little voice piped up, saying that perhaps she was putting _too much_ effort into it.

Asuka looked at her twin in the mirror, and frowned. She looked at her wristwatch again, and muttered a curse in German.

"Shinji Ikari, you better be out here in 3 minutes or less, or So help me-"

"I'm ready." Shinji answered, opening the door.

Silence fell as both took into their respective outfit, not able to say a word.

"What is that?" Asuka asked with a shocked expression on her face, while pointing to Shinji's outfit.

"Ah…I didn't know what to wear so…"

Asuka stared at him for another second. _This isn't happening_ she thought to herself. _He can't be THAT big of an idiot._

She really had expected him to show up using the same school outfit; black slacks, white shirt, blue undershirt and white tennis shoes, and that somehow, her mind reminded her that, much like Shinji, Rei too appeared to have that as the only available option of clothing outside of a plug suit.

_Hmm…Maybe they are related after all._ Asuka shook her head, in part to forget the ridiculous notion that Shinji and Rei were somehow connected, in part to force herself to actually _believe_ Shinji had chosen such an outfit for a date.

She blinked, Shinji was still buttoning down his shirt and putting on his shoes.

The same outfit was there.

"What the hell are you wearing?"

Shinji looked down at his jeans and white button down shirt. "Uhhh you said to dress for going out so I th-"

"Shinji, for you dressing up normally means to put on the freshest set of black slacks and white button down." She eyes him with appreciation. "I never thought you had something other than the school uniform."

"I could say the same thing." He said while they walked towards the door with their shoes in hands. "What is it with you and sundresses?"

"They're nice and comfortable and cool." Asuka stuck out her tongue. "Which is more than I can say for your boring shirt." She smiled. "The blue undershirt at least brought out your eyes." She frowned.

"Wh-what?"

"You look like a bum."

Asuka closed into him, invading his personal space; Shinji could smell the faint scent of her body wash; a combination of honeydew and cantaloupe. Her hair smelled of her usual shampoo; fresh and sweet, like fresh ripped strawberries. All in all, when combined with her lavender perfume was a smell that Shinji quickly committed to his memory.

Sweet, but not overbearingly sweet. That's when Shinji realized something; Asuka smelled like a girl; feminine and playful. It was one of those things you never notice, but when you finally realize it, it turns your whole world upside down.

"I swear Shinji, your collar is all crooked, anyone who sees you will think you're homeless or something…"

Shinji had always known Asuka was a girl, she was careful to remind him at every waking hour, be it by accusing him of being a hentai, or by walking around the apartment in teasingly short clothes, very much like Misato, but with a huge difference:

Asuka was of his same age.

Any following logical thought was derailed as Shinji felt Asuka's slender fingers come in contact with the nape of his neck, feeling a soft, almost invisible pull towards her.

He couldn't help but, once again become bewitched by her blue eyes.

Asuka stepped away, feeling a little self conscious. She immediately began to tell herself she had only done it in that _I am doing you a favor by going out with you so you should look your best_ way, but somehow, on a subconscious level, she knew something had irrevocably changed.

"So, shall we?"

She swallowed the big lump in her throat, showing Shinji her open hand.

"Yeah." Shinji smiled. "Let's…"

The train ride had been filled with inane conversation; stuff at school, Hikari and Toji's antics, upcoming tests. All of this amongst the plans concerning the current outing for both teens.

"So what do you think? Food first or movie?" Shinji asked as they exited the train walking with the rest of the people into the shopping district.

"I want to do some window shopping first." Asuka answered, dragging a half unwilling, half very willing Shinji towards the stores, stopping before the big windowpanes and gawking at the various dresses and outfits in display.

Shinji could only groan in dismay as he saw that Asuka had chosen the street that housed the most shops, as well as the most people crowding it's boardwalks.

"C'mon Shinji, at least try to look like you're having fun." Asuka pulled him behind hear, smiling good-naturedly.

And Shinji couldn't think that maybe it was because she was still holding his hand.

Shinji and Asuka smiled to themselves, thinking the same thing.

This is going to be great.

----- -----

"C'mon Asuka you don't need to be so angry about it."

Pleading with Asuka often had two and only two outcomes for Shinji; she would turn to him and shout that it was his fault for being a stupid idiot, or a pervert, or some sort of obscure combination of both.

Or…

No, wait…it was only that outcome for Shinji.

"Shut up idiot…it's your fault I didn't bring any money, if I had known you were planning on taking me to the shopping district…"

Shinji would have loved to interject and let Asuka know that it had been actually _her_ the one who had masterminded the whole outing, _her _the one who had chosen the destination, and therefore _her_ the one who was at blame.

But contrary to popular belief, Shinji, while being wimpy and whiny, was also smart where it counted, although in all fairness one didn't needed to be a rocket scientist to know that telling Asuka she was wrong in any way, especially after she had been unable to make any purchases was the quickest way to end up bruised.

Or in a ditch someplace, while Section 2 looked aimlessly for his body.

So instead, Shinji did what any male did in cases such as this, he kept quiet, and hoped for a miracle of any kind to divert the Red head's attention.

An uneasy silence filled the room as the two pilots eyes wandered about the room, taking in the vast intricacies of such items as the clock, the coffee maker, the floor pattern...everything but one another. Both Children fought hard to avoid being caught in the others gaze.

He didn't have to wait for long, as those words spoken by a still sulking Asuka broke the uneasy silence that had replaced the Red head's aggravated mumbles after several minutes.

"Ice cream." She said, her mood souring at an increasingly alarming rate. Shinji then proceeded to execute his plan for self preservation.

"Ice…cream?" Shinji hesitantly asked, already looking at the ice cream parlor he had seen before.

"Yeah, ice cream. You can buy me some ice cream to make up for the fact that thanks to you I wasn't able to get those shoes." She added magnanimously.

"B-but…I-" Shinji was about to walk right into it, but stopped, knowing he had lost the argument even before it had started. "Sure…I know just the place." Shinji let out a sigh. "C'mon, let's get you your ice cream…"

So now they were currently sitting in one of the tables, Asuka picking at her hot fudge Sunday while Shinji ate his banana split, enjoying the silence.

"Well, it certainly is not a Golden Opulence Sundae…" Asuka said trying to jump-start the conversation again. "But it'll do for now…" She finished the sentences, turning towards Shinji the pink tip of her tongue dancing lightly atop the sundae she was eating, smiling lightly as she noticed Shinji noticing her, and she put s bit more of teasing on eating the cone, enjoying his reaction, how his throat visibly stiffened, how his eyes went wide, how his hand began to clench and un-

_God._ She thought as realization hit her. _I'm flirting with the baka._

She turned towards Shinji who had decided to stare at his shoes after he had seen the indescribable look that had passed thru Asuka's face moments ago. "Just don't think for a second that this will count as the eating part." Asuka said with a fierce voice but a different expression on her face.

"N-no…I…"

"Shinji…" Asuka sighed, making the boy instantly shut up. "I'm kidding."

Shinji relaxed visibly at that. They began to talk aimlessly again, drifting form topic to topic, staying on safe ground, avoiding mentions of mothers and past lives.

"Hey Shinji…" Asuka smiled at him, picking the last remnants of her sundae on her spoon. "Ahhh…"

Shinji was caught off guard, not really expecting her to do something like that. Deciding to shut the annoying voice in his head, and enjoy it for once, he closed his eyes and opened his mouth.

Asuka had actually planned to tempt him, teasing him with a taste to, in the last moment, end up eating the last spoonful herself, leaving Shinji's mouth wide open.

She hadn't thought, however of the possibilities, of the chances.

Of being caught by a group of gossiping girls.

She felt being pushed forward, and saw Shinji's face coming closer and closer, and she was unable to stop herself, and now she could see the pores of his skin and…

Asuka reacted in freight at being caught by surprise by jamming the ice cream in Shinji's nose, making him gasp in surprise at the sense of wetness and numbness and coldness in his nose.

----- -----

"Ny noose is sdill numm…"

Shinji could still feel his nose cold, and wet after the fiasco of the ice cream.

"Stop being such a baby." Asuka grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Now let's get something to eat…" She smiled as his face lit up.

"I dow de pefedt pdace."

----- -----

"You're kidding me…" Asuka's aggravated voice felt strained against her throat, almost as if she were constricting the murderous intent that was plainly written on her face, before turning over to Shinji.

"_This_ is where you expect _me_ to eat?"

Shinji looked again at the restaurant; the happy, bright lights, with the big, attention grabbing red and yellow store signs, the white kanji against the red background for everyone to see, the hard to miss metal frames of the clock tower on top...

"What's wrong with th-"

"Listen here third child." Asuka cut him off before he even had a chance to ask. "I am not some two bit floozy you can take to a fast food joint to get the food part out of the way; I will not go to a ramen stand, nor to a McDonald's…" She paused, taking a big gulp of air before screaming at him.

"AND I WILL SURE AS HELL NOT SET FOOT INSIDE THIS PARTICULAR DUMP."

Shinji looked at the beloved restaurant. "W-well how about some ra-"

Asuka held up her hand, closing her eyes in annoyance. "Shinji…if you finish that sentence I will be forced to hurt you; you are unbelievable…taking a nice girl to eat a beef bowl or ramen…" She admonished him. "Come on…"

She caught hold of his arm and linked her own arm underneath it. Shinji stiffened as Asuka pulled him forward.

"Uh…b-but…"

Shinji, I am going to do you a favor…" Asuka ignored the panicked attempts of Shinji to stand his ground, fearing a pummeling from the red head was coming. "I'm gonna show you to properly wine and dine a girl on a date."

"Uh…"

"That way, if I decide to grant you a next time, you will be able to do it correctly."

Shinji could only sigh dejectedly as the pictured leaving a fancy restaurant, his wallet considerably lighter than when they would enter first.

Of course Asuka would wish to go one such restaurant.

"H-hey...B-but that's one of my favorites..."

"Shinji…" Asuka explained patiently as both children walked passing the various fast food restaurants and ramen carts. "Just for future references, a _yoshi gyū_ might be a good place for you and your stooge friends, but I wouldn't be caught dead in a restaurant whose motto is _save time and money_."

----- -----

True to his thoughts, Asuka left the restaurant with a happy, stuffed face, while Shinji's bank account was a couple thousand yen lighter.

"That was a nice dinner." Asuka said as she sat on a bench, Shinji simply grumbled, trying to come up with how much he had spent and how much he had left. Asuka saw the change in his behavior and leaned towards him, smiling.

"Hey, you know some pretty good places, let's keep going." She said, getting up and giving him her hand. "Now, as payment for an excellent dinner, I will be entertaining you."

Shinji's mind went blank with the implications.

Asuka shoved him playfully. "Ewww, not that way pervert." She smiled. "I will lend you the money to go to the movies."

"Why don't you just pay for it?"

"Idiot!" Asuka admonished Shinji. "A girl never pays for a date; it's unseemly." She turned towards the movie theater. "Of course you're gonna have to pick the tab for the refreshments…"

"Hey! But we just ate…"

"Shinji!" Asuka whined his voice like a petulant child being denied a toy. "Everybody knows that a movie isn't a movie without popcorn and drinks." She pulled him towards the theater.

"Now hurry, I want to see this one." She motioned to the poster for one of the feature films.

"Uhhh…Asuka…" Shinji began as he saw the red letters flashing on the screen. "That one is sold out…"

----- -----

Both children made their way cautiously thru the screening room. Shinji had decided to buy Asuka as many sweets and candies as necessary to avoid incurring in her wrath.

"Hurry up, third." Asuka whispered. "This movie better be good." She grumbled as she saw the screen showing the title.

_Space cowboys._

Already Asuka felt like throwing up.

"What is it about?"

"Uh…some space cow-"

Asuka turned to Shinji, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance. "I know how to read the stupid title, idiot. I meant what is the story."

Shinji read from the program aloud. "It follows the adventures of four futuristic cowboys in the year 2071."

"Sounds boring." Asuka grumbled as she plopped down. "Let me see that." She took the program from Shinji's hand, while simultaneously pushing him down next to her.

"I really wanted to see the one with Yuji Ueda." Asuka pouted. "He is so cute…no Kaji cute of course…"

"Of course…" The dejection in Shinji's voice was crystal clear, making Asuka take a look at his frowning face.

"Hey c'mon, I know you wanted to see that movie too…" She began teasingly. "Just imagine it…a loser who suddenly finds himself surrounded by beautiful, available babes…that's every hentai's dream…"

"I know, I know…" Shinji nodded. "Besides Yui Horie is also cute…." He added in a low voice.

"Oh so you are in love with an idol, then?" Asuka replied already in teasing mode. Before she could press for more details, however, the lights dimmed and the movie began.

----- -----

"Kick ass!" Asuka roared exiting the theater, mimicking some karate chop and sock into the helpless thin air. "That was one helluva movie…"

"Easy for you to say…" Shinji grumbled nursing his head after Asuka had, inadvertedly of course, punched him while following thru one of the fighting scenes.

"Koichi Yamadera is soo dreamy, and has such a sexy voice…" Asuka sighed for the _nth_ time. "He can sure give Kaji a run for his money. And the movie was sooo cool!!"

"I guess…"

"What do you mean you guess?" Asuka turned smiling. "You loved that movie and you know it…I saw you more than once faking the punches and kicks."

"No…that was you." Shinji said, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"Oh…" Asuka had the decency to look embarrassed before teasing Shinji again. "But I saw your eyes wandering onto those two bimbos on screen."

"Wh-what..?" Shinji was caught of guard by the playful accusation and wagging of Asuka's finger in his face, feeling like a child caught by an older sibling trying to sneak something he shouldn't into the house.

"Don't try to deny it…I can't understand why you would gawk at that Gara Takashima…"

"Well…" Shinji scratched the back of his head. "She did look good in that full leather cat suit."

"Y-you pervert…she _is_ old enough to be your mother…" Asua punched him playfully in the shoulder.

"You're right…" Shinji smiled. "But Megumi Hayashibara is cute and she has a very nice voice as well…and the outfit…" He sighed dreamingly.

"Oh so you like that one better?" Asuka pouted. "Figures you would go for the one dressed as a tramp." She crossed her arms.

"Besides her voice is stupid." She grumbled softly, but Shinji did manage to hear her, smiling at Asuka's irrational jealousy.

"C'mon Asuka now when would I get to meet someone even remotely resembling her?" He shrugged. "The only women in my life are you, Misato and Rei."

"Now that you mention it, that _is_ sad." She added as they kept walking at a leisure pace, not really wanting to arrive too soon to the train station to head back.

"Besides I prefer Miyamura…" Shinji added after a minute or so of silence.

"Who?"

"Yuko Miyamura…"

"Which one was she?"

"Ahh she didn't appeared in this one, but was Chun-Li in the new Street fighter movie and was also Kazuha Toyama in the new_ Detective Conan _version."

Asuka remembered her, but didn't feel like adding anything new.

"So you prefer the Tsundere?" _Damn! Where did that come from?_

"Beats the boring Nadesico." Shinji shrugged.

Asuka eyed him cautiously. _What are you trying to say?_

"I thought that was the ideal beauty for Japanese…"

Shinji shrugged again. "I guess after all the time spent with you and Misato, living with some one as…bland… " He stopped, thinking what he was trying to say. Unbeknownst to him, Asuka was hanging to his every word, was well.

"I would be bored…" He said after a beat of silence. "I'd miss you both."

----- -----

The ride back home was made in total silence, both Shinji and Asuka sat next to the other on the otherwise empty train, not because they wanted.

Shinji had at first sat at the farthest end of the row of seats, with Asuka sitting down right across from him.

Eventually, one a particular turn, she had slipped from her seat with a surprised yelp, landing in front of Shinji with her legs akimbo, her feet sprawled in a rather unlady like fashion.

Shinji was immediately besides her, his extended hand waiting to be taken, to help her to her feet.

Asuka blushed when she realized the way she was, and took her hand, her other hand hiking the skirt down. As he helped her to her feet, another turn made them stumble into the other; Shinji holding on to the overhead bars for dear life, Asuka grabbing from his neck, steadying herself.

They both looked at each other, fully aware of their closeness, but not having enough presence of mind to jump away.

And eventually, almost as if she was the moon and he was the sea, both caught up in the moment as the train kept going forward, the fresh night breeze coming in thru the windows, the soft, calm soothing music heard on the loudspeakers, the both fell into the other.

And they kissed.

Somehow Asuka had envisioned her first kiss, her first _romantic _kiss, her first romantic _willingly given_ kiss would be different.

For starters, she had always envisioned the gentle roughness of Kajis 5'oclock shadow scratching softly against her chin, the scent pf his cologne filling her sense of smell, her eyes drawn into Kaji's own chocolate brown pools.

She would be playing with that ponytail of his, playfully tugging at the nape on the base of his neck, her finger intertwining onto his hair to pull him closer, as the kiss deepened, a sense of hunger unlike anyone she had ever felt permeating her every cells.

He would taste of old spice and sea, the essence of a man not tied down by conventionalities; he would cup her face, running his thumb and forefinger on her engorged lips, teasing her lightly as she leaned forward to capture his lips again, a deep laugh rumbling in his chest, echoing in her ears.

In essence Kaji would definitely send all of her senses into overload on her first kiss. It would be perfect; dinner and a movie and a moonwalk stroll, following by a kiss that would make the world come to a stop, waves crashing against a seashore, fireworks in the distance as the moon and the starts and the sun stopped their constant revolution to make her savor the moment even more.

Shinji had probably fantasized about this kiss more than anything in his whole life. He could still feel the pinch in his nose and the soft pressure of Asuka's lips against his. His own mouth had been partially opened, surprise still etched in his face even if he had _known_ he was going to kiss her.

He could feel the soft brush of Asukas skin against his, he could still feel his hand out of it's own volition strained, clenching and unclenching trying to grasp her, to meld, to push to combine at a more basic level, to held her close and never let go. But the intensity of the moment, the pain from Asuka's grip on his nose the shortness of breath and being unable to focus on anything more than the gulp of air that seemed so far and how he felt so light headed and Asuka's lips felt like a barrier against his and how he needed to breath…

Yes, first kisses _never_ happen the way they are portrayed in many romantic movies. In most cases they actually are quite the opposite in fact; awkward, clumsy, uncomfortable, and sometimes, even painful. The one giving is to eager, the one receiving is unprepared. They are still unsure about their own feelings and then start to question themselves if this was correct, if this was right, if they _coulda-shoulda-woulda._

But this one was not.

An echo of their synch training, they moved as one, softly, inexorably, both keeping their eyes on the other's eyes, stealing a glimpse at the other's lips as they came in contact, a soft, gentle and pleasurable pressure coming forth.

For Shinji it felt like everything he had hopped had it not been for Asuka pinching his nose. He was able to breath and his senses felt so alive because he was able to breath her, to drink and taste her.

He was able to watch as her eyes closed slowly as her eyelids fluttered, he was able to feel the light teasing of her breath against his skin, and how it suddenly stopped, almost like a gasp before it resumed at a more calmer pace.

Asuka felt like everything she had thought about was becoming true, save for the fact that he was not Kaji, a fact that, strangely, her brain no longer seemed to care about, it felt like everything she had thought it would feel, his tongue was shy, but eager, probing with caution thru the confines of her mouth, it was not a hungry kiss, but it felt like it could deepen at any time, making it become more anxious, threatening her breath with hitching up, going up a notch, feeling like hyperventilating and she knew the lack of oxygen was something that would definitely kill brain cells and _why the hell was she thinking about this now when Shinji Ikari was kissing the life out of her like something out of a perfect story that no one had bothered telling her she would eventually star in as his tongue kept dancing insde her mouth, leaning against and pulling towards and suckling and teasing and running across and below and towards and WHERE THE HELL DID HE LEARNED TO KISS LIKE THAT WHO WAS THE LITTLE SLUT THAT HAD TOLEN SHINJI'S FIRST ADULT KISS AND-_

Eventually Asuka's brain decided to stop thinking, considering such higher brain functions would only get in the way of this kiss. It shut down and threw her mind into silence, making the whole presence of Shinji's lips and kiss and tongue and eager hands and nimble finger feel even more.

It wasn't until they realized the train had stopped at the end of the line, conveniently a 5 minute walk to their apartment that they finally remembered the other needed their lips and tongue intact.

And in silence, the exited, smiling lightly and slightly flushed with trembling lips and shy hands walking hand in hand towards their apartment.

----- -----

As he laid in bed, watching intently the ceiling above him, Shinji couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding.

For his part, Shinji had also changed, besides the changes puberty was doing to his body and voice, he had began to see the changes within as well; Although he still had unresolved issues with his father and his past, and was, according the the latest psych-evaluation that he had _happened_ to just _find_ lying around in Misato's room, plagued by self-doubt and feelings of worthlessness, he was considerably more temperamental, even violent at times; more apathetic and angry than nervous and withdrawn.

Misato had said he was behaving like a normal adolescent child, the first time, before grounding him like a kid when she considered his latest outburst was more willing to burst out angrily in protest and voice his opinion.

He had also began to be less submissive around Asuka, their snap-crackle-and pop routine now falling in the realm of _friendly banter_, his responds to her insults a smart-alec comment or sarcastic retort rather than what had been his typical responses of _Sorry... _or the whinning _Don't talk to me like that!_

The exchange that had happened however had made something stir inside of him.

He would never delude himself into negating an attraction to Asuka. How could he?

The passing moths and years had affected them both, physically an emotionally, gone was the lithe, thin figure of a 14 year old Asuka, instead replaced by a more womanly shape, filling out in all the right places (_He should really thank the bas-his father for enforcing the use of the plug suits after all_). Her dark brownish-red tresses only added to contrast her more noticeable features; tall slender frame, long legs that seemed to never stop, thin but defined arms with delicate fingers, all of it encased in fair white skin.

While her overtly physical features were nothing to scoff at, Shinji himself preferred her face; a cute pointed nose, which in itself was a continuous concavity from the eyes to its tip, framed by the perfect oval of her face. The big blue eyes that would at times show the deepest of contempt, but sometimes would show the true vulnerability brimming underneath.

And those soft, luscious lips that forever plagued his dreams with the teasing kiss they both shared.

_Even if she is still overbearing, egoistic and even physically violent at times, she IS cute._

Tired, slow breaths turned into soft, deep breaths, and just as he was about to drift into sleep. He could not deny how nice and soft and warm and _right_ Asuka's body felt pressed against his.

And even if he tried, the goofy smile in his face would give his true feelings away.

And so, thinking of her face, the way her smile lit up her eyes, and the cute dimples that formed on her cheeks, _The mind shattering, ground breaking reality shifting kiss she had given him, _Shinji slowly went to sleep, an equally contended sigh and smile on his face.

He couldn't help but brush his fingers against his lips one last time before allowing sleep to gain control of him.

----- -----

Asuka was smiling to herself.

That had been one hell of a kiss.

Smacking her lips, and wondering how long till they kissed gain, she drifted back to sleep.

----- -----

Asuka was humming cheerfully.

That should have been a red flag.

Hikari watched her in surprise, as Asuka went for her textbook, taking out her neatly wrapped bento, while throwing her book inside her locker, not caring about the love letters spilling into the floor.

She had been happy since she arrived to school early.

That should have been Hikari's second clue.

"What are you so happy about?"

Asuka turned to see Hikari standing next to her. "Remember those idiotic ideas you had about romantic comedies and Shinji and me and how we were just right for each other?" She smiled.

"Uh…yes…"

"You mentioned 10 clichés…why don't you run them again by me and I'll tell you if you're right?"

"Why? You have a check list or a score card or something." Hikari teased gently.

"Actually Shinji just kissed the living daylights of my last night and I wanted to see if there was anything about that in your list." Asuka deadpanned, waving her hand dismissingly. Hikari stopped short, playing with one of her pigtails without realizing she was doing so, not really sure if she should believe the German girl or not. Asuka's smile never left her face. Hiari touched her neck unconsciously, remembering that night in Misato's apartment.

Again.

----- -----

"Hikari…" Asuka interrupted her. "What's on the list?"

"How about he's a _Hikikomori_ and she's a _Gaijin_ who will never be more than a _Henna Gaijin_."

"Ridiculous and romantic, check."

"Yes, you also get your Quirky Friends, an Older Perverted Relative and your assorted Pets."

"I know who you are thinking about when you say older perverted relative." Asuka grumbled. "But explain to me the quirky friends part…"

"Asuka!!" Hikari said in mock shock. "Quirky friends are a must."

"I don't see what for." Asuka grumbled plopping down on her back.

"Well, for starters for comic relief, snide advice, or inserting some necessary doubt into the blossoming romance." Hikari dived towards the red head, falling next to her amids a sea of futons.

"I still can't believe I'm listening to this."

"Oh shush…" Hikari admonished without taking her eyes of what she was reading. "Archetypes are gay fashion designers with crazy wardrobes, brooding goth girls with an 80s vibe, or insane, shifty roommates with insatiable libidos and perverted underwear."

"Well, the last one is definitely Misato, and the gays…well…have you ever wonder if Toji and Kensuke are not bishi?" Asuka said, enjoying as Hikari paled with that particular imagery. "As for the 80 goth…I'll keep the brooding goth, change the hair into blue and make her apathic and socially inept."

"You're talking about Rei, right?" Asuka simply smirked and looked at the magazine.

"What else?"

"Older Perverted Relative."

"That's Misato. Let's move on."

"Wait, wait…let me read this thru…" Hikari waved her hand. "At some point an older relative must make an appearance and shoot off a few skanky metaphors for some cheap laughs, usually in the form of advice to girl."

"Sex and relationships advice from Misato." Asuka pondered for a second, before a cold shiver ran thru her spine.

"Oooh…scary! I can just picture her…" Asuka mimicked the tone of the major with an alarming success, jutting her breast forward to accentuate her figure like Misato would. "_What are you waiting for, get a taste of the sweet peach when it's ripe_, _or Nothin' like the old horizontal mambo to keep the melons from sagging!_"

Once the laughter had died and Hiakri was sure her sides would not burst, she continued reading.

"One Hit Wonders. A nostalgic, sappy soundtrack is a must. +1 if sang by the hot idol of the week+2 if sang by the hot couple of the moment. +3 if it turns out to be made for an animated film that is turned into a live version, and then comes back in the form of a Christmas special. Or Spring. Or Summer. +4 if the song gets it's own single release, but it doesn't count if it gets downloaded from the 'net. +5 if said song becomes such a hit it evolves into different versions like techno, Lounge, Bossa Nova."

"great now we have to have a theme song…"

"Next up…assorted pets. Boy and/or girl has to have a dog or cat that they confide in."

"that one's easy…" Asuka said, getting into the game once the initial shock had died. "Change the four legged mammal for a two legged drunk bird and you hit it dead on."

"Pets are cute." Hikari said as she reached for a waddling Pen-pen to sit him between her legs, petting his head. "Everyone loves pets. They can be used to evaluate the new love interest by purring or biting them in the crotch."

"Yes stupid bird…" Asuka reached for the penguin and latched onto his beak, closing it forceful, making Pen-pen smother a _Wark!_

"Next time idiot Shinji comes in, ram your beak up his-"

"ASUKA!"

Kidding…sheesh…"

"Wedding/Dance/Party scene. There's always some big social event with food, music, and dancing, where the girl gets to dress up, as boy stands around looking stunned and worried he's out of his league."

"Tha's going to be any other day…" Asuka smile dproudly. "I look ravishing even in that stupid school uniform."

"Boy and Girl Break Up. Boy and girl must part, otherwise how will they ever get back together?"

"That's idiotic." Asuka yawned. "Why would they break up if they are obviously in love with each other?"

"Previous differences threaten to overwhelm the relationship. An old flame returns and proposes marriage. Nazis threaten to take over the nightclub. Boy reveals his true profession as a time traveler from the future and girl just can't see raising their children, who will be older than boy come 2057."

"Or maybe Boy blurts out he has a deep Oedipal complex and is in love with his mother's clone who behaves like a little automaton. That could work."

At this point Hikari had chosen to ignore Asuka's attempt at humor.

"Boy and Girl Are In Love."

"No…really?" the forced surprise made Hikari look at Asuka over the edge of the magazine and give her aglare.

"No matter how ridiculous or insurmountable last cliché is, somehow space and time are transcended to reunite boy and girl. Insert a crazy car chase, sorority sisters racing to stop boy from boarding a plane, the realization that boy's telekenetic ability to hear chimpanzees speak is cured by kissing girl, or a love-confessional speech in front of a crowd of people, hopefully televised and with a priest conveniently available to marry the couple. +2 if the priest is elderly, perverted, and shorter than girl."

"How about a forced world wide cataclysm is stopped by the idiot boy and he ends up with the bimbo girl on a deserted beach, the waves crashing against them?"

----- -----

Asuka smiled to herself a she saw Hikari open and close her mouth repeatedly, mimicking a gold fish.

"I thought you said he was a pervert." Hikari said after she found her voice.

"Yeah, so?"

""What happened to _All boys are perverts_!" Asked Hikari, still not believing Asuka and Shinji-.

"Well, Shinji is nice to have around, you did make some excellent points." She continued walking towards the lonely classroom not noticing or caring about Hikari's shocked expression mixed with relief, pride and a tinge of jealousy.

"It's nice to have somebody to talk to. At home, about school and daily stuff and piloting, and stuff that I can't discuss with non-NERV personnel...you know; stuff like that."

"Riiight..." Hikari nodded with a knowing smile and listened to her friend. "Is that why you have been glancing at him all throughout classes and why he has been blushing every time he turns to see you?"

"Why?" Asuka smirked. "Jealous your big dumb jock won't step up to the plate?" She punched her fist into her open palm while chanting "Here batterbatterbatter batterbatterbatter…"

Hikari blushed and looked at her shoes.

"I-"

"Now let's talk about _your_ crush with the school jock…"

----- -----

_AN. That's it, the end. I never promised a long story; I don't have the talent, nor the disposition for it. This was mainly a quick little fic, simple funny and lightweight, if you want something poignant, deep and with complex human relationships and development, keep looking…I heard Rakna will eventually upload the newest Chosen, Ld has been updating his stories, Random is still alive and kicking and there is a new batch of brilliant and talented writers around that will eventually do it good._

_As for me? Well…one of this days I _might _get around to finishing 10 things and 30 kisses, and maybe sometime I will be able to upload more chapters for Love and Hate. Right now I'm letting the angst within flow with a proposed 4 part of one hour oneshots (hint, they're in latin.)_

_No body beta'ed, pre-read this crap. Any and all life threats psych bills and the like should be addressed at yours truly. It doesn't really _mean_ I will read them, just that you should send them to me._

_That's it…credit rolls, cue music and sun set. Move along people nothing to see, vacate the premises and go on with your life._

_-click!-_


End file.
